Physics Commons^™

Power Scaling Feasibility Of Chromium-Doped Ii-Vi Laser Sources And The Demonstration Of A Chromium-Doped Zinc Selenide Face-Cooled Disk Laser, Jason B. Mckay

Theses and Dissertations

Tunable lasers in the 2-4 µm wavelength range are needed for Air Force sensor applications. Chromium-doped II-VI materials are a promising class of laser material for tunable operation in this wavelength range, but until recently had not produced enough output power to meet application requirements. This dissertation investigates Cr²⁺:II-VI material properties and potential laser designs, then experimentally demonstrates and analyzes the performance of a Cr²⁺:ZnSe disk laser design that can produce sufficient output power. Cr²⁺:II-VI laser materials are found to be susceptible to overheating and thermal lensing, but are otherwise satisfactory laser materials. The …