SATURABLE ABSORBERS FOR Q-SWITCHING OF MIDDLE INFRARED LASER CAVITIES

摘要

This disclosure demonstrates successfully using single, polycrystalline, hot pressed ceramic, and thin film Fe doped binary chalcogenides (such as ZnSe and ZnS) as saturable absorbing passive Q-switches. The method of producing polycrystalline ZnSe(S) yields fairly uniform distribution of dopant, large coefficients of absorption (5-50 cm<SUP>-1</SUP>) and low passive losses while being highly cost effective and easy to reproduce. Using these Fe<SUP>2+</SUP>:ZnSe crystals, stable Q-switched output was achieved with a low threshold and the best cavity configuration yielded 13mJ/pulse single mode Q-switched output and 85 mJ in a multipulse regime.