https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202430906022
Type-I intermittency route to chaos in passively Q-switched Tm:YLF laser emitting at 2.3 μm
1 Université Paris-Saclay, Institut d'Optique Graduate School, CNRS, Laboratoire Charles Fabry, 91127 Palaiseau, France
2 Centre de Recherche sur les Ions, les Matériaux et la Photonique, UMR 6252 CEA-CNRS-ENSICAEN, Université de Caen, 6 Boulevard Maréchal Juin, 14050 Caen Cedex 4, France
* Corresponding author: frederic.druon@institutoptique.fr
Published online: 31 October 2024
We report on an original chaotic dynamic behaviour of a passively Q-switched 2.3-μm Thulium laser operating on the 3H4 → 3H5 transition. The experiment employs a Tm:LiYF4 laser crystal within various laser cavity configurations, involving optional additional cascade laser operation on the 3F4 → 3H6 transition at 1.9 μm. The saturable absorber employed is Cr2+:ZnSe, which is exclusively saturated by the 2.3 μm laser emission. A precise analysis of the Q-switching dynamics shows a pronounced inclination of the cascade laser scheme towards chaotic operation. To investigate the origins of chaos, we originally monitor the metastable 3F4 level population using cascade laser operation at 1.9 μm, which proves to be a crucial underlying parameter for explaining the observed instabilities. This analysis allows for explaining the specific dynamics of the Q-switched 2.3 μm Tm-laser intrinsically linked to Tm3+-doped materials. A very atypical route to chaos for a Q-switched laser is demonstrated involving type I intermittencies. The obtained results are of great interest for studying the premises of chaos in pulsed solid-state lasers.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2024
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
