Resonant pumping of dysprosium doped lead thiogallate by 1.7 μm Er:YLF laser radiation

The lead thiogallate crystal doped with trivalent dysprosium ions Dy3+:PbGa2S4 was used as the laser active medium for mid-IR radiation generation. Using 1.73 μm Er:YLF laser radiation for pumping, the output energy up to 7 mJ was obtained for 185 mJ pumping with the slope efficiency of 8% with respect to the absorbed energy. Stable pulses with almost Gaussian type beam space structure and at the wavelength of 4.3 μm were generated. It gives a good possibility for construction of efficient mid-IR radiation source for the applications