Compact Radio Frequency Discharge-Pumped Slab CO Laser System with a Zinc Germanium Phosphide (ZnGeP₂) Sum-Frequency Generator for Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere

Abstract

Based on our experimental study of spectral characteristics of an improved compact CO laser system, the prospects of using such a laser system for solving urgent problems of atmospheric sounding were demonstrated. An increase in the number of laser lines due to intracavity generation of the second harmonic and sum-frequencies in a nonlinear ZnGeP<sub>2</sub> crystal enriches capabilities of the laser. It was shown that such a CO laser system with frequency conversion in ZnGeP<sub>2</sub> crystal can be used for detection and measuring concentration of at least 14 minor natural and pollution gases components of the atmosphere. The advantages and disadvantages of various laser operation modes, and the prospects for using its radiation for atmospheric remote sensing in various spectral ranges are discussed.

Reduction of Native Singly Ionized Zinc Vacancies Content by 2.5 MeV Electron Irradiation of ZnGeP2Single Crystals

“…[6,7] In fact, OPOs are pumped at 2 μm by commercially available high power laser sources, [8][9][10][11][12] exploiting the high birefringence of ZGP nonlinear crystals for frequency conversion and phase matching. [10] The generated powerful and tunable laser sources (from 2 to 12 μm) can be used for long-range detection of gaseous species, [4,7,13] for optronic countermeasures, [4,7] or surgery applications. [4,7,14] To efficiently use ZGP in OPOs pumped at 2 μm, the absorption coefficient in the crystal must be as low as possible for that wavelength (below 0.15 cm À1 [15] ), but unfortunately as-grown ZGP crystals exhibit an absorption coefficient from 0.3 to 1 cm À1 .…”

“…[ 6,7 ] In fact, OPOs are pumped at 2 μm by commercially available high power laser sources, [ 8–12 ] exploiting the high birefringence of ZGP nonlinear crystals for frequency conversion and phase matching. [ 10 ] The generated powerful and tunable laser sources (from 2 to 12 μm) can be used for long‐range detection of gaseous species, [ 4,7,13 ] for optronic countermeasures, [ 4,7 ] or surgery applications. [ 4,7,14 ]…”