High-power, single-frequency mid-infrared laser based on a hybrid Fe: ZnSe amplifier

This study proposes a high-power, single-frequency mid-infrared laser based on a quantum cascade laser (QCL) seeded Fe:ZnSe amplifier design. The Fe:ZnSe amplifier is injection-seeded with a 55-mW, 4.3-mu m distributed feedback QCL and can produce 390 mW laser output with an extraction efficiency of 14%, a beam quality factor of M-2 similar to 1.1, and a spectral linewidth of 29.6 MHz. Further, this study presents a theoretical analysis predicting the laser performance of the optimized amplifier system. The prospects for further improvement in performance and extension of the tuning capability are discussed.