A world first for infrared ultrashort lasers

Within the framework of a doctoral thesis, an Onera team succeeded in producing in 2010, with a ZnSe:Cr laser (medium infrared - 2 µm range), 60 ps pulses (60 10-12 s) with a frequency of 220 MHz. A laser quite close in its functioning to the Titanium-Sapphire Laser, which is the most commonly used for ultrashort pulses (infrared visible limit – 0.8 µm).

The innovation is, in particular, in how it works: mode locking by a “non-linear mirror” method. The applications will essentially be in the field of infrared optical metrology: atmospheric chemical composition lidar analysis and combustion diagnostics. Its main advantage: a better temporal resolution for infrared optical metrology applications.