Potential of CdSiP2 for Enabling Mid-Infrared Laser Sources

Laser sources operating near a wavelength of four microns are important for a broad range of space and airborne applications. Efficient solid-state laser sources, demonstrating the highest output power, are based upon nonlinear optical (NLO) conversion using the NLO crystal ZnGeP2. However, a related NLO crystal, CdSiP2, is now under investigation by several groups around the world. A comparison of its figure of merit for high-power handling with other NLO candidates indicates its potential for higher performance. In addition, the crystal's characteristics as well as efforts to understand the crystal's defects that presently limit NLO performance are briefly discussed.