Multi-reentrant nonplanar ring laser cavity

Author

Huang, Sheng-Lung ; Chen, Ying-Hui ; Huang, Pi-Ling ; Yi, Jui-Yun ; Cheng, Huy-Zu

Author_Institution

Inst. of Electro-Opt. Eng., Nat. Sun Yat-Sen Univ., Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Volume

38

Issue

10

fYear

2002

fDate

10/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1301

Lastpage

1308

Abstract

A multi-reentrant nonplanar ring laser cavity configuration is presented. Two identical spherical mirrors were used to construct the laser cavity. The exact reentrant condition of the ring cavity is derived and the stability of the laser cavity is analyzed. Although slight astigmatism can arise from the intracavity elements, the cavity itself is astigmatism-free. Linear output polarization is readily achieved. A 3-atm.% Nd doped YAG with 1-mm thickness was used as the gain medium to reduce beam distortion, and the gain medium also served as a Faraday rotator to control the laser beam propagation direction. The laser cavity length is short, whereas the laser beam round-trip length can be long. A factor of 13-times enlargement in round-trip length is demonstrated.

Keywords

laser cavity resonators; laser mirrors; laser modes; laser stability; neodymium; ring lasers; solid lasers; Faraday rotator; LD pumped solid-state laser; Nd:YAG gain medium; YAG:Nd; YAl5O12:Nd; detuning characteristics; identical spherical mirrors; intracavity beam path; laser beam propagation direction; laser cavity stability; linear output polarization; multi-reentrant nonplanar ring laser cavity; multipass cell; round-trip length; single-frequency laser; slight astigmatism; transverse mode; unidirectional operation; Laser beams; Laser noise; Laser stability; Mirrors; Neodymium; Optical control; Polarization; Ring lasers; Stability analysis; Vision defects;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JQE.2002.802955

Filename

1035976