Two-photon pumped blue lasing in bulk ZnSe and ZnSSe

Abstract

We have studied laser action of ZnSe and ZnS0.05Se0.95 samples grown by seeded physical vapor phase transport (SPVT) technique in the near resonant two-photon absorption regime. The two-photon pumped lasing was observed using a tunable near-infrared nanosecond laser (830–890 nm). Blue lasing could be observed up to 200 K and the two-photon pumped lasing threshold was measured to be ∼7 MW/cm2 at 10 K. This work demonstrates the applicability of using near-infrared diode lasers as pumping sources to excite the ZnSe-based materials. By comparing the energy position of two-photon pumped lasing with that of the one-photon pumped lasing and examining the red shift of the energy position, we suggest that the free-exciton free-exciton scattering and resultant band filling are the dominant processes involved in the lasing action of ZnSe and ZnSSe alloy crystals at low temperature.