Time-resolved pump depletion in <i>n</i>-InSb Raman spin-flip laser

Abstract

We have observed a strong transient optical absorption in n-InSb (n=1016 cm−3) induced by an intense (2 MW cm−2) 10.6-μm laser beam at 2 K. Detailed studies of the time history of the transmitted 10.6-μm beam and the spin-flip Raman laser pulse produced in the InSb show that the 10.6-μm absorption lasts for ≳100 ns, and that spin-flip lasing occurs only at the beginning of the intense portion of the 10.6-μm pump pulse and after the absorption has disappeared.