Selection of CO laser single nanosecond pulse by electro-optic CdTe shutter

摘要

Highlights ? The mid-IR fast shutter on the basis of Pockels cell with CdTe crystal was developed. ? The selection of a single nanosecond pulse was performed for single-line and multi-line CO laser radiation. ? The narrow-gap semiconductor InSb as a saturable absorber was proposed for increasing the CO laser radiation contrast. Abstract To select a single laser pulse from a train of nanosecond pulses emitted by a mode-locked CO laser with wavelengths from ～5 to 6μm, an electro-optic shutter based on CdTe Pockels cell was developed. A contrast between the selected pulse and unselected laser emission was equal to 20 and twice as much decreased in a CO laser power amplifier. To increase the contrast, a feasibility of applying a narrow-gap semiconductor as a saturable absorber is discussed. ]]>