Vapor growth of CdSe:Cr and CdS:Cr single crystals for mid-infrared lasers

Abstract Single crystals of CdSe:Cr and CdS:Cr with the doping level up to 10 19 cm −3 were grown by a vapor phase contact-free technique. An efficient room-temperature pulsed and continuous wave (CW) lasing with the CdSe:Cr crystal was achieved. First a pulsed lasing with the CdS:Cr crystal was also demonstrated. The slope efficiency on the absorbed energy was as high as 46.5% for Cr 2+ :CdSe and 39% for Cr 2+ :CdS lasers. Using an intra-cavity prism, the Cr 2+ :CdSe laser wavelength was continuously tuned from 2.26 to 3.61 μm while the Cr 2+ :CdS laser from 2.2 to 3.3 μm. For the laser wavelength, the crystal passive loss coefficient was estimated to be smaller than 0.045 cm −1 for CdSe:Cr crystals and 0.039 cm −1 for CdS:Cr crystals. For the Cr 2+ :CdSe laser, the CW output power up to 1.07 W was achieved.