Cr: ZnSe prism for broadly tunable mid-infrared laser radiation generation

Compact broadly tunable Cr:ZnSe laser was constructed and described. Cr:ZnSe bulk crystal was grown by the Bridgman technique. In our best knowledge the bulk Cr:ZnSe prism was utilized as laser active media and simultaneously as an intra-cavity dispersive element for the first time. The maximal output pulse energy was 20 mJ. The generated radiation was tunable from 2000 upto 2750 nm. The repetition-rate was 1 Hz. The generated raadiation beam spatial structure was close to TEM00.