Abstract

An existing geometrical optics method for calculating the longitudinal and transverse dependence of the mode intensities in unstable resonators with sharp-edged feedbacks mirrors and distributed saturable gain is modified to include the nonuniform reflectivity of the outcoupling feedback mirror. Results show that the mode extends increasingly outward as the gain increases, so the size of a limiting aperture must be chosen with care to prevent unwanted diffraction. An attempt to prescribe an arbitrary spatially limited output function of a loaded cavity and to find the required mode and reflectivity profiles yields spatially unlimited functions.

© 1992 Optical Society of America

Unstable resonators with nonuniform reflectivity outcouplers: geometric theory for bare cavities

Thomas R. Ferguson
Appl. Opt. 31(36) 7557-7562 (1992)

Unstable resonators with a distributed focusing gain

Thomas R. Ferguson
Appl. Opt. 33(24) 5830-5836 (1994)

Laser resonators with nonuniform gain and magnification

Martin E. Smithers
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Modes of unstable resonators with a saturable gain guide

Ognian Denchev, Stoyan Kurtev, and Plamen Petrov
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Eigenmodes of misaligned unstable optical resonators with circular mirrors

Mark S. Bowers
Appl. Opt. 31(9) 1185-1198 (1992)