| In this thesis the preparation and infrared spectroscopy of Cr diffusion doped zinc and cadmium chalcogenides including ZnSe, CdTe, Cd0.96Zn0.04Te, Cd0.90Zn0.10Te, Cd0.80Zn0.20Te, and ZnTe are reported. The materials were prepared by a thermal diffusion process controlled by temperature and time. Cr2+ doped II-VI semiconductors continue to be of significant interest as gain media in mid-infrared (2-3 mum) solid-state lasers. Various samples of polycrystalline windows of Cr2+:ZnSe and Cr 2+:CdTe were prepared with Cr2+ peak absorption coefficients ranging from ∼ 0.8 cm-1 to 28.7 cm-1. Commercial CrSe powder of 99.5 % purity was used as the dopant source. The Cr2+ room-temperature decay time varied between 5-6 mus for Cr:ZnSe and 2-3 mus for Cr:CdTe. Time-resolved emission studies revealed the effect of dopant concentration quenching on the mid-infrared emission for doping concentrations above ∼1x1019cm-3. By increasing the Zn composition within the CdXZn1-XTe series, a wavelength shift of the Cr2+ infrared absorption and emission spectra to shorter wavelengths was observed. |
