Middle infrared (mid-IR) chromium-doped zinc selenide (Cr:ZnSe) bulk lasers have attracted a lot of attention due to their unique combination of available pump sources (1400-2200nm,Er-fiber, Tm fiber, telecom or InP diodes, Er:YAG/YLF; Tm: YAG/YLF), technological (low cost ceramic material), optical and spectroscopic characteristics (ultrbroadband gain bandwidth, high absorption coefficients) make them the gain materials of choice when one needs a compact system with continuous tunability at 300 K over 1.9-3.3 μm, output powers up to 13 W, and high (up to 70%) conversion efficiency。

Cr:ZnSe lasers are promising for spectroscopy, sensing, medical and defense related applications, as well as for seeding or pumping middle-infrared optical parametric oscillators。