Stimulated radiation emitted from zinc selenide single crystals under streamer excitation conditions

A study was made of stimulated emission of radiation and lasing in zinc selenide single crystals subjected to a transverse streamer discharge (T = 294 and 77 K). The stimulated radiation observed in the 448–449 nm range at 77 K was attributed to radiative recombination in a dense exciton gas, whereas that observed at room temperature originated from an electron–hole plasma. The threshold density of nonequilibrium carriers needed for the generation of light at 77 K did not exceed 10¹⁸ cm^–3 .