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A superpulse (500 W peak power) thulium fiber laser operating at a 1940 nm wavelength, suitable for lithotripsy, has recently been developed. The goal of this study was to compare stone fragmentation and dusting performance of the prototype superpulse thulium fiber laser with leading commercially available, high-power holmium:YAG lithotripters (wavelength 2100 nm) in a controlled in vitro environment. Two experimental setups were designed for investigating stone ablation rates and retropulsion effects, respectively. In addition, the ablation setup enabled water temperature measurements during stone fragmentation in the laser–stone interaction zone. Human uric acid (UA) and calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) stones were used for ablation experiments, whereas standard BegoStone phantoms were utilized in retropulsion experiments. The laser settings were matched in terms of pulse energy, pulse repetition rate, and average power. At equivalent settings, thulium fiber laser ablation rates were higher than those for holmium:YAG laser in both dusting mode (threefold for COM stones and 2.5-fold for UA stones) and fragmentation mode (twofold for UA stones). For single-pulse retropulsion experiments, the threshold for onset of stone retropulsion was two to four times higher for thulium fiber laser. The holmium:YAG laser generated significantly stronger retropulsion effects at equal pulse energies. The water temperature elevation near the laser-illuminated volume did not differ between the two lasers. Distinctive features of the thulium fiber laser (optimal wavelength and long pulse duration) resulted in faster stone ablation and lower retropulsion in comparison to the holmium:YAG laser.

We report 3kW test data of Single-Mode (SM) Ytterbium-doped fiber amplifier with diffraction-limited divergence for narrow linewidth seed sources in compact modular package with all-fiber format. Measured M2 values of output beam in full power range are < 1.1. The fiber amplifier has been pumped by direct laser diodes and has 3m output delivery cable terminated with IPG connector. The fiber amplifier in modular package has ≥ 40% wall-plug efficiency and 15nm spectral bandwidth in 1055-1070nm wavelength range. The amplifier operates up to 3kW at linewidths of 60GHz and 30GHz with polarized and depolarized seed sources respectively. The amplifier data and non-linear SBS, SRS and MI effects are discussed for different input linewidth and test conditions.

We demonstrate vector solitons in a few-cycle polycrystalline Cr:ZnS oscillator at the middle-IR wavelength 2.4 µm and deploy realistic simulations to identify χ(2) nonlinearity in a polycrystal as the main factor contributing to polarization dynamics.

We present recent results on 1645/1617 nm Er:YAG and 2090 nm Ho:YAG laser systems optically pumped by efficient CW fiber lasers. Multi-mJ pulse energy, MW-level peak powers are obtained in a range of repetition rates.

We report the first femtosecond polycrystalline Cr:ZnS oscillator with an octave-spanning spectrum. Average power of the laser is 1.4 W at the mid-IR central wavelength 2.4 μm and the pulse repetition frequency 79 MHz.

We report 45 dB single stage Cr:ZnSe amplifier operating over 2.2-2.6 μm spectral range seeded by CW Cr:ZnSe single frequency laser. The maximum output energy of 1.6 mJ was demonstrated in 25 ns pulses at 1000 Hz repetition rate.

We report dual-comb spectroscopy experiments with stabilized combs based on Kerr-lens mode-locked Cr:ZnS lasers. The compact dual-comb setup features >3W power per each channel, 80-MHz comb-mode spacing, and 60-THz-wide band centered at 2.4 μm.

We give an overview of experimental results on mid-IR femtosecond lasers and frequency combs based on polycrystalline Cr$^{2+}$: ZnS providing access to few-cycle pulses in the spectral range 2–$;3\mu \mathrm{m}$. We also discuss the techniques for generation of multi-octave coherent femtosecond continua with Cr$^{2+}$: ZnS lasers.

We report a technique for generation of ultra-broadband coherent femtosecond continua in the infrared. The laser architecture is based on the Cr:ZnS–GaSe and Cr:ZnS–ZGP tandem arrangements that enable simultaneous amplification of ultrashort middle IR pulses and augmentation of pulses’ spectrum via a chain of intrapulse three-wave mixings. The first part of the tandems is based on a single-pass polycrystalline Cr:ZnS amplifier, which is optically pumped by off-the-shelf continuous wave Er-doped fiber laser and outputs 2-cycle pulses with multi-Watt average power at 80 MHz repetition rate, at the central wavelength 2.5 μm. The second stage of the tandems comprises a GaSe or ZGP crystals configured for intrapulse difference frequency generation. The Cr:ZnS–GaSe tandem has allowed us to achieve multi-octave 2–20 μm continuum with 2 W power in the range 2–3 μm and power in excess of 20 mW in the important range 3–20 μm. On the other hand, Cr:ZnS–ZGP tandem features long-wave infrared (6–12 μm) output pulses with record braking sub-Watt power level. Last but not least, Cr:ZnS–GaSe and Cr:ZnS–ZGP IR sources have small footprints and are easily convertible to the optical frequency combs with low carrier-to-envelope timing jitter.

We report mid-IR frequency comb with 3.25 W average power and spectrum spanning 60 THz near 2.4 pm. We stabilized the offset frequency of the comb with accumulated phase error of 75 mrads.

We give an overview of recent experimental results on mid-IR femtosecond lasers and optical frequency combs based on TM:II-VI media providing access to few-cycle pulses with Watt-level power over 2–20 µm spectral range.

Enabling broad tunability, high peak and average power, ultrashort pulse duration, and all known modes of laser operation—transition-metal (TM)-doped II–VI chalcogenides are the materials of choice for direct lasing in the mid-IR. The host materials feature broad infrared transparency, high thermal conductivity, low phonon cutoff, low optical losses, and are available as either single crystals or polycrystalline ceramics. Doped with TM ions, these media exhibit a four-level energy structure, the absence of excited state absorption, as well as broad absorption and emission bands. Doped single-crystals of high optical quality are difficult to grow; however, the advent of postgrowth diffusion doped ceramics has resulted in significant progress in laser development. Here, we summarize recent experimental laser results on Cr and Fe doped II–VI chalcogenides providing access to the 1.8–6 μm spectral range with a high (>60%) efficiency, multi-Watt-level [140 W in continuous wave (CW)] output powers, tunability of >1000 nm, short-pulse (

We report, to the best of our knowledge, the first fully referenced Cr:ZnS optical frequency comb. The comb features few cycle output pulses with 3.25 W average power at 80 MHz repetition rate, spectrum spanning 60 THz in the middle-IR range 1.79–2.86 µm, and a small footprint (0.1 m2), The spectral components used for the measurement of the comb’s carrier envelope offset frequency were obtained directly inside the polycrystalline Cr:ZnS laser medium via intrinsic nonlinear interferometry. Using this scheme we stabilized the offset frequency of the comb with the residual phase noise of 75 mrads.

We report on a commercial laser system based on a Yb fiber oscillator with cross-filter mode lock (CFML) mechanism that is integrated with a programmable pulse shaper. The laser is self-starting and stable in a wide temperature range, 15- 50°C, resilient to vibrations and shock. It can serve as a seed for high-power femto- and pico- second systems or be implemented as a standalone unit, as illustrated in this paper. The master oscillator is outputting strongly chirped pulses, with the spectrum centered at 1030 nm and having the full bandwidth of up to 90 nm. It operates at 11 MHz repetition rate, with the pulse energy of at least 10 nJ at the output. When equipped with an additional power amplification module, the oscillator yields the same spectral output and repetition rate, but the pulse energy can be increased up to 400 nJ. The laser output is fully coherent, and pulses are compressible down to the transform limit (TL). For demanding femtosecond applications, the laser system is being configured with a static grating compressor and a compact spectral phase shaper. The pulse shaper utilizes a liquid-crystal spatial light modulator for active phase control which enables high-finesse pulse compression as well as arbitrary manipulation of the pulse waveform. With the use of the pulse shaper, the oscillator output is compressed down to 57 fs, which is within 7% from the TL pulse duration, 53 fs, calculated from the experimental laser spectrum.

We demonstrate a fs laser architecture that enables the direct measurement of the laser’s carrier envelope offset frequency. A multi-Watt source is arranged as a full-repetition-rate polycrystalline Cr:ZnS MOPA and covers 3-octaves (0.4–4.2 µm).

Until recently, the generation of super-octave continua in bulk materials at full repetition rates of femtosecond (fs) oscillators has been limited to a few special cases of Kerr lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire lasers. In 2019, we described a 3.4-octave fs source with 50 nJ pulse energy at the repetition rate of 78 MHz based on polycrystalline Cr:ZnS [Vasilyev et al., Optica 6, 126 (2019)OPTIC82334-253610.1364/OPTICA.6.000126]. Here we explain the mechanism of fs supercontinuum generation in transition-metal doped polycrystalline II-VI semiconductors at relatively low (nJ-level) pulse energy. We demonstrate that this new supercontinuum regime is enabled by a complex, yet well-reproducible, interplay between the effects arising from the third-order nonlinearity, the quadratic nonlinearities, and thermal optical effects in the medium. We also demonstrate the control of fs pulse propagation in disordered χ ( 2 ) media via the control of the material microstructure.

We report, to the best of our knowledge, the first super-octave femtosecond polycrystalline Cr:ZnS laser at the central wavelength 2.4 µm. The laser is based on a non-polarizing astigmatic X-folded resonator with normal incidence mounting of the gain element. The chromatic dispersion of the resonator is controlled with a set of dispersive mirrors within one third of an optical octave over 2.05–2.6 µm range. The resonator’s optics is highly reflective in the range 1.8–2.9 µm. The components of the oscillator’s output spectrum at the wavelengths 1.6 µm and 3.2 µm are detected at –60 dB with respect to the main peak. Average power of few-cycle Kerr-lens mode-locked laser is 1.4 W at the pulse repetition frequency 79 MHz. That corresponds to 22% conversion of cw radiation of Er-doped fiber laser, which we used for optical pumping of the Cr:ZnS oscillator.

We report on industrial-grade femtosecond Yb fiber lasers with >100μJ pulse energy and

II-VI binary and ternary chalcogenides (e.g. ZnS, ZnSe; CdZnTe, ) doped with transition metal (TM) ions such as Cr, and Fe are arguably the materials of choice for effective mid-IR lasers potentially covering 1.8-9 µm spectral range. This talk summarizes progress in Cr:ZnS/Se and Fe:ZnSe laser systems, enabling a wide range of tunability (1.8-5.0µm) with output power levels of up to 140 W, as well as Fe doped ternary chalcogenides with tunability potentially extended up to 9 um. TM:II-VI media feature a unique combination of superb ultra-fast laser capabilities with high nonlinearity enabling exceptional output characteristics of polycrystalline Cr:ZnS/Se oscillators in Kerr-Lens-Mode-Locked (KLM) regime over 2-2.6 um and effective up and down conversion of fs pulses via random phase matching (RFM). Extension of mid-IR spectral coverage to 3-8 um is demonstrated by Cr:ZnS KLM laser pumped subharmonic parametric oscillators (OPOs) based on quasi-phase matching in OP-GaAs, and RFM in polycrystalline ZnSe. Fe:II-VI semiconductors are complimentary to Cr doped compounds and 3-8 um KLM ultrafast oscillators based on Fe doped chalcogenides are feasible. Another important feature of Fe:II-VI media is excellent energy storage capability at 77-200K (~60 µs luminescence life time) enabling efficient Q-switched regime and high energy amplification of ns and ultrafast pulses. One of the major problems in the development of CW, gain switched, Q-switched and KLM ultrafast Fe:II-VI lasers was the absence of convenient pump sources overlapping with absorption band (2.7-4.5 um) of Fe: gain media. Potential utilization of Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCL) as pump sources of Fe:II-VI lasers will be discussed in the form QCL-solid state laser hybrid platforms as well as Fe doped active layers integrated in QCL structures.

II-VI chalcogenides (e.g. ZnSe/S) doped with transition metal (TM) ions such as Cr, and Fe are arguably the materials of choice for fabrication of effective mid-IR gain media. TM:II-VI materials feature a favorable blend of laser spectroscopic parameters: a four-level energy structure, absence of excited state absorption, close to 100% quantum efficiency of fluorescence (for Cr doped II-VI media), broad mid-IR vibronic absorption and emission bands. This talk summarizes progress in fabrication of high quality Cr:ZnS/Se and Fe:ZnS/Se by cation vacancy and cation interstitial enhanced post growth thermal diffusion. We also describe recent breakthrough on recrystallization and effective doping of ZnS ceramics under hot isostatic pressing resulting in a large cm-scale monocrystalline domains formation and an increase of the Fe diffusion coefficient by three orders of magnitude. We report recent advances in high-power Cr:ZnS/Se and Fe:ZnSe laser systems, enabling a wide range of tunability (1.8-5.0µm) with output power levels of up to 140 W near 2500 nm, 32 W at 2940 nm, and 35 W at 4300 nm with corresponding optical efficiencies of 62%, 29%, and 35%. Current improvements of output characteristics of polycrystalline Cr:ZnS/Se oscillators in Kerr-Lens-Mode-Locked (KLM) regime are reported: up to 2 W output power at 75-1200 MHz repetition rate, up to 2 cycle pulse duration (16 fs) with efficiency of 20-25% with regards to Er-fiber laser pump power. The effects of efficient up-conversion of mid-IR fs pulses in the laser medium as well as supercontinuum generation are demonstrated. Further extension of mid-IR spectral coverage to 3-8 m is demonstrated by Cr:ZnS KLM laser pumped degenerate (subharmonic) parametric oscillators (OPOs) based on based on quasi-phase matching in orientation-patterned gallium arsenide, and random phase matching in polycrystalline ZnSe.

Frequency combs with a wide instantaneous spectral span covering the 3–20 µm molecular fingerprint region are highly desirable for broadband and high-resolution frequency comb spectroscopy, trace molecular detection, and remote sensing. We demonstrate a novel approach for generating high-average-power middle-infrared (MIR) output suitable for producing frequency combs with an instantaneous spectral coverage close to 1.5 octaves. Our method is based on utilizing a highly-efficient and compact Kerr-lens mode-locked Cr2+:ZnS laser operating at 2.35-µm central wavelength with 6-W average power, 77-fs pulse duration, and high 0.9-GHz repetition rate; to pump a degenerate (subharmonic) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on a quasi-phase-matched GaAs crystal. Such subharmonic OPO is a nearly ideal frequency converter capable of extending the benefits of frequency combs based on well-established mode-locked pump lasers to the MIR region through rigorous, phase- and frequency-locked down conversion. We report a 0.5-W output in the form of an ultra-broadband spectrum spanning 3–8 µm measured at 50-dB level.

Three lasers were directly compared, including the Ho:YAG laser (λ = 2100 nm), Tm fiber laser (λ = 1940 nm) operating in 3 different modes (CW, regular pulse, and super pulse), and blue diode laser (λ = 442 nm) for vaporization and coagulation efficiency for treating blood-rich soft tissues, ex vivo, in a porcine kidney model at quasi-contact cutting in water. In addition, experimental results were compared with published data on performance of KTP laser (λ = 532 nm) at similar experimental settings (Power = 60 W and cutting speed = 2 mm/s). Tm fiber laser in pulsed mode and blue laser produced highest vaporization rates of 3.7 and 3.4 mm3/s, respectively. Tm fiber laser (in both CW and pulsed modes) also produced the largest coagulation zone among the laser sources tested. A carbonization zone was observed for Tm fiber laser in CW and pulsed modes, as well as for the blue diode laser. Tm fiber laser in super-pulse mode and Ho:YAG laser both resulted in irregular coagulation zones without carbonization. Comparison with known data for KTP laser revealed that tissue effects of the blue laser are similar to that of the KTP laser. These results suggest that the combination of the two lasers (Tm fiber and blue diode) in one system may achieve high cutting efficiency and optimal coagulation for hemostasis during surgical treatment. Ex vivo testing of the combined system revealed feasibility of this approach. The combination of the CW Tm fiber laser (120W) and the blue diode laser (60W) emitting through a combination tip were compared with CW 120 W Tm fiber laser alone and 120 W Ho:YAG laser. Vaporization rates measured 34, 28, and 6 mm3/s, and coagulation zones measured 0.6, 1.3, and 1.7 mm, respectively. A carbonization zone was only observed with CW Tm fiber laser. The vaporization rate of combined CW Tm fiber laser / blue diode laser was comparable to published data for KTP laser for equivalent total power. Thus, high-power blue diode laser, Tm fiber laser, and their combination may provide an alternative to conventional Ho:YAG and KTP lasers for applications in urology and other surgical fields.

We report compact ultrafast mid-IR sources based on single-pass cw and pulsed pumped polycrystalline Cr:ZnS/Se laser amplifiers exhibiting up to 37% efficiency, up to 30 dB small-signal gain, and spectral span of 1.6–4.5 um.

We demonstrate an approach to power scaling of middle-IR femtosecond pulses at the wavelength 2-3 μm to multi ten-Watt level in simple and robust single-pass spinning ring amplifier based on polycrystalline Cr:ZnSe.

High-power (0.5 W) mid-IR output suitable for ultra-broadband frequency comb generation was produced in a subharmonic GaAs optical parametric oscillator that was synchronously pumped by a compact 0.9 GHz, 6 W femtosecond Cr:ZnS (2.35μm) MOPA.

This paper summarizes recent improvements of output characteristics of polycrystalline Cr:ZnS/Se master oscillators in Kerr-Lens-Mode-Locked regime. We developed a flexible design of femtosecond polycrystalline Cr:ZnS and Cr:ZnSe lasers and amplifiers in the spectral range 2–3 μm. We obtained few-optical-cycle pulses with multi-Watt average power in very broad range of repetition rates 0.08–1.2 GHz. We also report on efficient nonlinear frequency conversion directly in the polycrystalline gain elements of ultra-fast lasers and amplifiers. In this work we also report on recent progress in spinning ring gain element technology and report to the best of our knowledge the highest output power of 9.2 W Fe:ZnSe laser operating in CW regime at 4150nm.

We report on a ruggedized compact modular package narrow linewidth fiber amplifiers with 1.5kW linear polarized output in an all-PM fiber configuration and 2 kW in non-PM fiber configuration for various scientific and advanced applications. The fiber amplifiers have 2m output cable with connector termination for 15GHz linewidth and 20GHz linewidth in PM and in non-PM fiber configuration respectively. The fiber amplifiers have 40% wall-plug efficiency and 15nm spectral bandwidth for 1064nm wavelength range. Measured M2 values of the output beam of the amplifiers are < 1.1.

We report on high efficiency multimode pumps that enable ultra-high efficiency high power ECO Fiber Lasers. We discuss chip and packaged pump design and performance. Peak out-of-fiber power efficiency of ECO Fiber Laser pumps was reported to be as high as 68% and was achieved with passive cooling. For applications that do not require Fiber Lasers with ultimate power efficiency, we have developed passively cooled pumps with out-of-fiber power efficiency greater than 50%, maintained at operating current up to 22A. We report on approaches to diode chip and packaged pump design that possess such performance.

We demonstrate an approach to a middle-IR frequency comb generator, which uniquely combines Watt-level power, exceptionally broad spectrum and small footprint. The source is based on an OP-GaAs OPO synchronously pumped by a Cr:ZnS femtosecond MOPA.

Lasers are becoming energy sources of choice for many medical applications. Ability to deliver sufficiently high energy in a short pulse while maintaining required average power (“super pulse”) is crucial for a number of surgical procedures. Recent technological advances have made possible implementation of Super Pulse (SP) regimes in Laser Diodes (LD) and Fiber Lasers (FL). This capability may offer numerous advantages over existing techniques. In this work, we have conducted thorough evaluation of two prototype super-pulse LD and FL systems, respectively designed for dentistry (treatment of soft tissues) and urology (lithotripsy), through their comparison with the corresponding “gold standard” commercial systems.Prototype super-pulse LD system for dentistry provided up to 25 W average and up to 150 W peak power at ∼980 nm wavelength. The laser was operated in various modes of control including those with thermal feedback. The following characteristics of the system performance were evaluated: 1) Speed and depth of cutting; 2) Degree of charring and dimensions of coagulative margin. The SP laser diode system was compared with industry-leading conventional diode and CO2 devices. The results indicated that the super-pulse diode laser system yielded increase in speed of controlled cutting by a factor of 2 in comparison with the conventional diode laser and approaching that of CO2 device.Prototype super-pulse Thulium (Tm) FL system for lithotripsy was capable of operation with up to 50 W average and 500 W peak power at ∼1940 nm wavelength. The in vitro experimental setup included a specially designed cuvette allowing quantitative assessment of size distribution of stone fragments and evaluation of the ablation rate. Magnitude of the retropulsion effect was measured as well. The SP Tm fiber laser system was compared with leading Ho:YAG system on the market. The two systems were matched in terms of average power and/or pulse energy. Ablation rate measurements revealed that, depending on stone composition and laser settings, the Tm laser provided between 1.2 and 4.3 times faster ablation than the Ho system. The temperature rise in the cuvette was nearly equal for the two lasers. The average retropulsion distance after a single pulse was substantially shorter with the Tm laser.The results obtained suggest that super-pulse technology implemented in laser diodes and fiber lasers may have significant potential for creating a new standard of care in the field of precision soft and hard tissue surgery in various specialties of medicine.Lasers are becoming energy sources of choice for many medical applications. Ability to deliver sufficiently high energy in a short pulse while maintaining required average power (“super pulse”) is crucial for a number of surgical procedures. Recent technological advances have made possible implementation of Super Pulse (SP) regimes in Laser Diodes (LD) and Fiber Lasers (FL). This capability may offer numerous advantages over existing techniques. In this work, we have conducted thorough evaluation of two prototype super-pulse LD and FL systems, respectively designed for dentistry (treatment of soft tissues) and urology (lithotripsy), through their comparison with the corresponding “gold standard” commercial systems.Prototype super-pulse LD system for dentistry provided up to 25 W average and up to 150 W peak power at ∼980 nm wavelength. The laser was operated in various modes of control including those with thermal feedback. The following characteristics of the system performance were evaluated: 1) Speed a...

We report a few-cycle, super-octave, polycrystalline Cr:ZnS laser system with 4 W power at 78 MHz repetition rate, where all of the necessary optical signals for the measurement of the carrier–envelope offset frequency are generated intrinsically.

Femtosecond laser sources and optical frequency combs in the molecular fingerprint region of the electromagnetic spectrum are crucial for a plethora of applications in natural and life sciences. Here we introduce Cr2+-based lasers as a convenient means for producing super-octave mid-IR electromagnetic transients via optical rectification (or intra-pulse difference frequency generation, IDFG). We demonstrate that a relatively long, 2.5 μm, central wavelength of a few-cycle Cr2+:ZnS driving source (20 fs pulse duration, 6 W average power, 78 MHz repetition rate) enabled the use of highly nonlinear ZnGeP2 crystal for IDFG with exceptionally high conversion efficiency (>3%) and output power of 0.15 W, with the spectral span of 5.8–12.5 μm. Even broader spectrum was achieved in GaSe crystal: 4.3–16.6 μm for type I and 5.8–17.6 μm for type II phase matching. The results highlight the potential of this architecture for ultrafast spectroscopy and generation of broadband frequency combs in the longwave infrared.

Availability of compact and cost-efficient mid-infrared (MIR) laser sources with a broad range of parameters is of great interest for a number of current and emerging applications. For instance, femtosecond (fs) MIR sources with high average power and broad spectral span enable high dynamic range spectroscopy, sensing, and imaging in the molecular fingerprint region. On the other hand, few-optical-cycle MIR pulses with high energy are of particular importance for the development of EUV and X-ray sources based on strong field nonlinear optics, e.g. high harmonic generation. Furthermore, high-power mid-IR lasers are of interest for processing polymers, glasses and composites, surgical, dental and cosmetology procedures, as well as numerous defense-related applications.

This paper summarizes recent improvements of output characteristics of polycrystalline Cr:ZnS/Se master oscillators in Kerr-Lens-Mode-Locked regime: 1.9 W average power at 41 fs pulse duration, 24 nJ pulse energy and 515 kW peak power with efficiency of 19% with regards to 1567 nm pump power from linearly polarized Er-fiber laser. A simple design of mid-IR fs Cr:ZnS MOPA enabled power scaling to 6.8 W at 79 MHz repetition rate. This was accompanied by a 2 fold spectral broadening to 600 nm at -10 dB level, pulse compression from 44 to

We report an industrial grade picosecond and femtosecond pulse Yb fiber lasers with >100 μJ pulse energy and hundreds of Watts of average power for improved laser machining speed of sapphire and glass. This highly efficient laser offers >25% wall plug efficiency within a compact 3U rack-mountable configuration plus a long >2m fiber delivery cable. Reconfigurable features such as controllable repetition rate, fine pulse duration control, burst mode operation and adjustable pulse energy permit the customer to tailor the laser to their application.

Operation from 1030nm to 1070nm in single narrow linewidth fiber amplifier with >1.5kW output power is presented. The fiber amplifier has up to 3m output cable for

Cr2+ doped ZnS and ZnSe possess a unique blend of physical, spectroscopic, and technological parameters. These laser materials feature ultra-broadband gain in 1.9 – 3.3 μm mid-IR range, low saturation intensities, and large pump absorption coefficients. The II-VI semiconductor hosts provide a low phonon cut-off, broad IR transparency, and high second and third order nonlinearity. Cr:ZnS and Cr:ZnSe are available in polycrystalline form: the material consists of a multitude of microscopic single-crystal grains with a broad distribution of grain sizes and orientations, which results in random quasi-phase-matching (RQPM). The distinctive features of RQPM are a linear dependence of the conversion yield with length of the medium and ultra-wide bandwidth of three-wave mixing. We review resent experimental results on optically pumped mid-IR ultrafast lasers based on polycrystalline Cr:ZnS and Cr:ZnSe. We demonstrate that Kerrlens mode-locking of polycrystalline Cr:ZnS and Cr:ZnSe lasers allow for generation of few-cycle mid-IR pulses with MW-level peak power. This opens several avenues for efficient nonlinear frequency conversion of short optical pulses directly in the laser gain medium via RQPM process. We implemented Kerr-lens mode-locked Cr:ZnS oscillators, which feature high power (up to 0.25 W), spectrally broad (up to 22 THz) second harmonic generation (SHG) in the laser medium. We also demonstrate simple and robust ultrafast source based on single-pass continuously pumped polycrystalline Cr:ZnS laser amplifier: mid-IR pulses with 6.8 W average power and the spectrum spanning 2.0–2.6 μm as well as SHG pulses with 0.52 W average power and 1.05 – 1.25 μm spectral span were obtained.

Progress in fabrication and mid-IR lasing of Cr and Fe thermal-diffusion and radiation enhanced thermal diffusion doped II-VI binary and ternary polycrystals is reported. We demonstrate novel design of mid-IR Fe:ZnSe and Cr:ZnSe/S solid state lasers with significant improvement of output average power up to 35W@4.1 μm and 57W@2.5 μm and 20W@2.94 μm. We report significantly improved output characteristics of polycrystalline Cr:ZnS/Se lasers in gain-switched regime: 16 mJ at 200 Hz, pulse duration 5 ns with tunability over 2400-3000 nm as well as Kerr-Lens-Mode-Locked regime in terms of average power (up to 2 W), peak power and pulse energy (0.5 MW and 24 nJ, respectively), and pulse duration (less than 29 fs).

We describe the challenges of transitioning Cr and Fe-doped Zn-chalcogenide technology to real-world products enabling access to 1.9–6 μm range with up to 70% efficiency, 140W of CW output power, and short-pulse (

We report compact ultrafast mid-IR source based on single-pass continuously pumped polycrystalline Cr:ZnS laser amplifier: 30 fs pulses with the spectrum spanning 2.0-2.6 µm (-10 dB) at 7.3 W overall power were obtained.

We report flexible design of femtosecond middle-IR lasers with a broad range of repetition rates 0.08–1.2 GHz. The lasers emit few-cycle pulses with 4–16.4 THz bandwidth, 0.1– 21 nJ energy at 2.4 µm wavelength.

We report Kerr-lens mode-locked polycrystalline Cr(2+):ZnS lasers at 2.4 μm central wavelength optimized for short pulse duration. By control of the second- and third-order dispersion within 500 nm bandwidth we obtained pulses of three optical cycles (29 fs) at 100 MHz repetition rate with 0.44 W average power. The emission spectrum is 240 nm broad at -3 dB level and spans 950 nm at -30 dB level. Transform-limited 38 fs pulses were obtained at 300 MHz repetition rate with 700 mW average power. To the best of our knowledge these are the shortest reported to-date pulses from Cr(2+):ZnS and Cr(2+):ZnSe lasers.

We report femtosecond polycrystalline Cr2+:ZnS laser at 2.4 μm central wavelength with 41 fs pulse duration, 1.9 W average power and 79 MHz pulse repetition rate that corresponds to 0.5 MW peak optical power.

We report a Kerr-lens mode-locked polycrystalline Cr2+:ZnS laser with shortest reported to-date 29 fs pulse duration (about three optical cycles), 440 mW output power at 2415 nm central wavelength and 100 MHz pulse repetition rate.