Investigation of the Kerr-lens mode locking ability of Cr2+:ZnSe solid-state laser

The theoretical calculation for nonlinear refractive index nz in Crf: ZnSe - active medium predicts the strong defocusing cascaded second-order nonlinearity within 2 - 3 mum spectral range. On the basis of this result the optimal cavity configuration for Kerr-lens mode locking is proposed that allows to achieve a sub-100 fs pulse duration. The numerical simulations testify about strong destabilizing Processes in the laser resulting from a strong self-phase modulation. The stabilization of the ultrashort pulse generation is possible due to spectral filtering that increases the pulse duration up to 300 fs.