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Saturable absorbers for passive Q-switching of erbium lasers emitting in the region of 3 μm

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Abstract

The phototropic properties of Fe:ZnSe, Co:ZnSe, and Co:ZnS single crystals have been investigated. It is shown that these crystals can be used to advantage as the saturable absorbers in solid-state erbium lasers emitting in the region of the 3-μm range. The absorption cross sections of the ground states of the Co2+ ion in the ZnSe (σGSA = 11·10−20 cm2) and ZnS (σGSA = 5.6·10−20 cm2) crystals and of the Fe2+ ion in the ZnSe (σGSA = 50·10−20 cm2) crystal at λ = 2.79 μm were determined experimentally. It has been established that the above-indicated crystals in the excited state absorb light weakly. The use of these crystals as passive Q switches made it possible to realize, for the first time, the regime of Q-switching of a Cr,Er:YSGG laser emitting at a wavelength of 2.79 μm. Single pulses with an energy of 60 mJ and a duration of 170 nsec were obtained in the regime of passive Q-switching.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Laser Center, Belarusian National Technical University, 65 Nezavisimost’ Ave., Minsk, 220013, Belarus

    V. E. Kisel, V. G. Shcherbitskii & N. V. Kuleshov

  2. Institute of Solids and Semiconductors, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus

    L. I. Postnova & V. I. Levchenko

Authors
  1. V. E. Kisel
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  2. V. G. Shcherbitskii
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  3. N. V. Kuleshov
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  4. L. I. Postnova
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  5. V. I. Levchenko
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Correspondence to V. E. Kisel.

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Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 72, No. 6, pp. 747–751, November–December, 2005.

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Kisel, V.E., Shcherbitskii, V.G., Kuleshov, N.V. et al. Saturable absorbers for passive Q-switching of erbium lasers emitting in the region of 3 μm. J Appl Spectrosc 72, 818–823 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10812-006-0009-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10812-006-0009-0

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