Recent Breakthroughs in Solid‐State Mid‐IR Laser Technology

Availability of compact and cost‐efficient mid‐infrared (MIR) laser sources with a broad range of parameters is of great interest for a number of current and emerging applications. For instance, femtosecond (fs) MIR sources with high average power and broad spectral span enable high dynamic range spectroscopy, sensing, and imaging in the molecular fingerprint region. On the other hand, few‐optical‐cycle MIR pulses with high energy are of particular importance for the development of EUV and X‐ray sources based on strong field nonlinear optics, e.g. high harmonic generation. Furthermore, high‐power mid‐IR lasers are of interest for processing polymers, glasses and composites, surgical, dental and cosmetology procedures, as well as numerous defense‐related applications.