A Gain-Switched Fe:ZnSe Laser Pumped by a Pulsed Ho,Pr:LLF Laser

We demonstrate a gain-switched Fe:ZnSe laser pumped by a 2958 nm pulsed Ho,Pr:LLF laser. The maximum single pulse energy is 16.4 \muJ with a minimum pulse duration of 13.9 ns at the pulse repetition frequency of 1 Hz when the Fe:ZnSe crystal is cooled to 77 K by liquid nitrogen, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 22.9%. The central wavelength and FWHM linewidth are 3957.4 nm and 23.2 nm, respectively. The output energy monotonically decreases as the crystal temperature increases in the range 77–293 K.