Lasing in 15 atm CO2 cell optically pumped by a Fe:ZnSe laser

TL;DR

This study demonstrates 10 μm lasing in a high-pressure CO2-He cell pumped by a tunable Fe:ZnSe laser, achieving notable efficiency and gain lifetime, indicating potential for high-pressure CO2 laser applications.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed analysis of 10 μm lasing in a high-pressure CO2 cell optically pumped by a Fe:ZnSe laser, including optimal conditions and gain lifetime measurements.

Findings

Achieved ~10% conversion efficiency at 7 atm pressure.

Identified optimal pump wavelength around 4.4 μm.

Measured gain lifetime of ~1 μs at pressures above 10 atm.

Abstract

10 {\mu}m lasing is studied in a compact CO2-He cell pressurized up to 15 atm when optically pumped by a ~50 mJ Fe:ZnSe laser tunable around 4.3 {\mu}m. The optimal pump wavelength and partial pressure of CO2 for generating 10 {\mu}m pulses are found to be ~4.4 {\mu}m and 0.75 atm, respectively. Without cavity optimization, the optical-to-optical conversion efficiency reached ~10% at a total pressure of 7 atm. The gain lifetime is measured to be ~1 {\mu}s at pressures above 10 atm, indicating the feasibility of using high-pressure optically pumped CO2 for the efficient amplification of picosecond 10 {\mu}m pulses.