Journal of Physical Chemistry & Biophysics
Open Access

Mid-infrared lasers based on transition metal doped II-VI semiconductors

2^nd International Conference and Exhibition on Lasers, Optics & Photonics

September 08-10, 2014 Hilton Philadelphia Airport, USA

Sergey Mirov, I Moskalev, V Fedorov, D Martyshkin, A Martinez, M Mirov, J Peppers and S Vasilyev

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Phys Chem Biophys

Abstract :

Recent progress in fabrication of high-quality thermo-diffusion doped polycrystalline and hot-pressed ceramic Cr 2+ and Fe 2+ doped ZnSe and ZnS gain media as well as crystal field engineering of ternary and quaternary compounds enabling amplification bandwidth extension up to 8 μ m are reported. We also report on the spectroscopic study of Cr 2+ :ZnSe/ZnS under visible excitation into the charge transfer band of Cr 2+ ions. Cr:ZnSe lasing at 2.5 μ m induced by 2+ → 1+ → 2+ ionization transitions of chromium under visible excitation was achieved.A spectroscopic characterization of cobalt and iron-cobalt co- doped ZnS and ZnSe crystals over 14-300K temperature range was performed. Mid-IR laser oscillation at 3.9 μ m (3.6 μ m) via energy transfer in the Co:Fe:ZnSe (Co:Fe:ZnS) co-doped crystals was demonstrated under cobalt excitation at 4A2(F) → 4T1(P) (~0.7 μ m) and 4A2(F) → 4T1(F) (~1.56 μ m) transitions. Progress in the technology of fabrication of high-quality uniformly doped transition metal (TM) doped ZnSe/S gain elements in combination with proper thermal management and cavities design enabled demonstration of high power; high energy; tunable (1.9-3.3 um), mid-IR Cr:ZnS/Se lasers operating in CW (>25 W), gain-switched (>20 mJ at 7ns), mode-locked (>1W at 65fs at 90 MHz), and long pulse (>1 J at 7ms) regimes. We will also report on recent progress in development of new gain media for tunable (3-8 μ m) mid-IR lasers as well as Fe:ZnS/Se lasers operating in CW (>1.5W), gain-switched (>1 mJ at 7ns at 1kHz) and long-pulse (>0.5 J at 200 μ s) regimes. TM doped II-VI media, being wide band semiconductors, hold potential for direct electrical excitation. Possible promising routes for achieving mid-IR lasing under electrical excitation will be discussed.

Biography :

Sergey Mirov received PhD in Physics in 1983 from the P. N Lebedev Physics Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Since 1993, he is a Faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Currently, he is a university Professor of Physics at the UAB and Director of the Center for Optical Sensors and Spectroscopies. He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, and member of the American Physics Society, and SPIE. He has authored or co-authored over four hundred scientific publications, has published 1 book, several book chapters, and holds twenty patents.