Spectrally-Resolved Intensity Noise Measurement of Cr:ZnS Kerr-Lens Mode-Locked Lasers

Lasers based on chromium (Cr)-doped zinc sulfide (ZnS) and selenide (ZnSe) gain media can generate extremely short pulses (~30 fs) at a short wavelength band of the mid-IR spectral region (~2.3 μm) [1]. These lasers are extremely promising for applications in spectroscopy, where the light source stability is of the utmost importance. It has been shown that Cr:ZnS/Se oscillators can be exceptionally stable with the relative intensity noise (RIN) below 0.04%, and with performance mainly depending on the choice of the pump source [2]–[4].