ZGP – Zinc germanium phosphide
>2 J/cm2 @ 2.1 µm, 20 ns, 10 Hz | 1.9 µm – 11 µm
3photon ZGP (ZnGeP₂) crystals are typically grown using the horizontal gradient freeze method at high temperatures or the Bridgman method. Crystals are then polished and coated using electron beam evaporation (EBE), ion-assisted deposition (IAD), or ion beam sputtering (IBS) technologies. ZGP crystals serve a wide range of applications in the mid-infrared (MIR) region, spanning from scientific harmonic generation experiments to advanced defence and military products.
- Applications
- Features
- 2nd, 3rd, and 4th harmonic generation of pulsed CO, CO₂, chemical DF-lasers, and other lasers operating within the crystal’s transparency range.
- Up-conversion of CO₂ and CO laser radiation to the near-infrared (NIR) range through harmonic generation and mixing processes.
- Sum frequency generation (SFG) by down-conversion of Erbium (Er), Holmium (Ho), and Thulium (Tm) wavelengths to mid-infrared (MIR) ranges.
- Optical parametric generation (OPG) with 2.0 µm pump wavelengths.
- Defense and military applications:
- Commonly used in anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems and infrared countermeasure (IRCM) systems (missile jamming), by generating optical parametric oscillation (OPO) in the 2000-2100 nm, 3000-3500 nm, and up to 5000 nm wavelength ranges.
- Low Altitude Laser Defense Systems.
- Production of coherent radiation in the sub-millimetre range, from 70.0 µm to 1000 µm.
- Medium and high power applications in the infrared (IR) and terahertz (THz) ranges.
- While ZGP has a wide transmission range from 1.9 µm to 11 µm, ZGP grown by standard methods exhibits high absorption at 2000 nm. Special processing is required to reduce this absorption, which restricts one crystal dimension to a maximum of 6 mm.
- The highest nonlinearity coefficient among IR crystals (d = 75 pm/V) is approximately 160 times greater than KDP.
- Mechanical and physical properties are comparable to Germanium (Ge), though ZGP is significantly harder than AGS or AGSe.
- ZGP can be mechanically processed with ease, allowing for high-quality polishing and flatness.
- Relatively high damage threshold.
- Phase matching is achievable over a broad spectral range with a limited tuning range.
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