Thermo-optical and lasing characteristics of Cr²⁺-doped CdSe single crystal as tunable coherent source in the mid-infrared

We report on a comprehensive characterization of Cr-doped CdSe single crystal as an efficient active material for tunable laser applications in the mid-infrared spectral region. Optical gain, thermo-optical behavior, power efficiency, scalability and wavelength tunability have been thoroughly investigated. Using an antireflection-coated crystal pumped by a Tmfiber laser at at 1.94 ?m, 1-W CW output power and 50% slope efficiency at 2.65 ?m emission wavelength have been obtained in a diffraction-limited output beam. An output peak power of 2.5 W has been achieved without significant beam distortion in a quasi-CW regime. Exploiting an intra-cavity diffraction grating in a Littrow configuration, a maximum tuning range of 900 nm from 2.22 to 3.12 ?m, limited by the finite bandwidth of resonator components, has been demonstrated with an uncoated crystal.