Abstract

The angular-distribution structure of the radiation for a laser with an astigmatic unstable telescopic cavity has been experimentally investigated, using a flash-lamp-pumped dye laser. Simple astigmatism was introduced into the cavity with a weak lens tilted with respect to the cavity axis, and the range of astigmatism variation was 10⁻³ to 5 × 10⁻¹ wave. An optical scheme has been proposed for the experiments that permits adequate simulation of the beam structure of the real laser by means of probe radiation introduced into the passive cavity. Comparative experiments in the regimes of active and passive cavities have shown that no fewer than two cavity modes of different order form the angular structure of the astigmatic cavity radiation.

© 1990 Optical Society of America

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