Explanation of the mechanism for acousto-optically induced unidirectional operation of a ring laser
Explanation of the mechanism for acousto-optically induced unidirectional operation of a ring laser
A mechanism is proposed for the nonreciprocal behavior of a traveling-wave acousto-optic Q switch, whose use can provide an effective way to enforce unidirectional and hence single-frequency operation of a ring laser. Simple energy and momentum conservation considerations show that the Bragg condition is satisfied at different angles of incidence for the two counterpropagating beams, which leads to a difference in their diffraction losses. The loss difference, measured directly for a diode-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser, yielded values in close agreement with calculated values. Implications of these results for both single-frequency cw and Q-switched operation of diode-pumped solid-state ring lasers are discussed.
601-603
Clarkson, W.A.
3b060f63-a303-4fa5-ad50-95f166df1ba2
Neilson, A.B.
31f59181-4d33-4cf1-824b-28f743292c0d
Hanna, D.C.
3da5a5b4-71c2-4441-bb67-21f0d28a187d
1992
Clarkson, W.A.
3b060f63-a303-4fa5-ad50-95f166df1ba2
Neilson, A.B.
31f59181-4d33-4cf1-824b-28f743292c0d
Hanna, D.C.
3da5a5b4-71c2-4441-bb67-21f0d28a187d
Clarkson, W.A., Neilson, A.B. and Hanna, D.C.
(1992)
Explanation of the mechanism for acousto-optically induced unidirectional operation of a ring laser.
Optics Letters, 17 (8), .
(doi:10.1364/OL.17.000601).
Abstract
A mechanism is proposed for the nonreciprocal behavior of a traveling-wave acousto-optic Q switch, whose use can provide an effective way to enforce unidirectional and hence single-frequency operation of a ring laser. Simple energy and momentum conservation considerations show that the Bragg condition is satisfied at different angles of incidence for the two counterpropagating beams, which leads to a difference in their diffraction losses. The loss difference, measured directly for a diode-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser, yielded values in close agreement with calculated values. Implications of these results for both single-frequency cw and Q-switched operation of diode-pumped solid-state ring lasers are discussed.
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Published date: 1992
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 78536
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/78536
ISSN: 0146-9592
PURE UUID: 0d229307-ea05-4f62-bada-a366d68ddb71
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Date deposited: 11 Mar 2010
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 00:17
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Author:
W.A. Clarkson
Author:
A.B. Neilson
Author:
D.C. Hanna
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