Laser & Optoelectronics Progress, Volume. 62, Issue 15, 1500004(2025)

Prospects for High-Pressure CO2 Lasers for Amplification of Long-Wave Infrared Lasers with Pulse Width of Hundreds of Femtoseconds (Invited)

Zhenzhen Xie1,2, Yishen Hou1,2, Mengmeng Yan3, Liemao Hu1, Mingkun Liu1,2, Ziming Wang1,2, Sicheng Li1,2, Guochang Wang1,2, Zhiyong Li1,2、*, Donglei Wang1,2, and Rongqing Tan1,2、**
Author Affiliations
  • 1Laser Engineering Center, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China
  • 2School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • 3National Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Space Security, Tianjin 300308, China
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    Ultrafast long-wave infrared (LWIR) lasers show promising applications in strong-field laser physics, including particle accelerators and high-harmonic generation. This review first summarizes recent developments in femtosecond LWIR laser technology. CO2 lasers have achieved terawatt-level peak powers. However, discharge excitation under high-pressure conditions faces challenges in achieving high repetition rates. While nonlinear optical frequency conversion techniques enable high-repetition-rate and few-cycle laser outputs, they encounter bottlenecks in achieving high peak powers. High-pressure CO2 amplifiers present a potential solution for generating terawatt-level, few-cycle LWIR laser outputs. The review then examines the current state of high-pressure CO2 laser amplifier research, focusing on developments and trends in optically pumped high-pressure CO2 laser amplifiers. Finally, it analyzes and discusses technical approaches for high-pressure CO2 amplification of femtosecond LWIR lasers.

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    Zhenzhen Xie, Yishen Hou, Mengmeng Yan, Liemao Hu, Mingkun Liu, Ziming Wang, Sicheng Li, Guochang Wang, Zhiyong Li, Donglei Wang, Rongqing Tan. Prospects for High-Pressure CO2 Lasers for Amplification of Long-Wave Infrared Lasers with Pulse Width of Hundreds of Femtoseconds (Invited)[J]. Laser & Optoelectronics Progress, 2025, 62(15): 1500004

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    Paper Information

    Category: Reviews

    Received: Apr. 9, 2025

    Accepted: May. 29, 2025

    Published Online: Aug. 4, 2025

    The Author Email: Zhiyong Li (zhiyongli@aircas.ac.cn), Rongqing Tan (rqtan@mail.ie.ac.cn)

    DOI:10.3788/LOP250972

    CSTR:32186.14.LOP250972

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