Laser applications and other topics in quantum electronics

Supermodes of a transient laser

B. V. Anikeev

Volgograd State University

Abstract: A method is proposed for analyzing the spectral composition of ultrashort pulses generated by a laser with brief periodic loss modulation. The method is based on an analysis of the Schrödinger equation for a pulse in the laser cavity. A time-varying regime of the generation of "supermode" waveforms is discussed for the first time. For transient supermodes with long-term profile stability there exist states corresponding to discrete values of the pulse gain. The properties of the transient supermodes, the conditions for selecting the lowest-index modes, the possibilities for achieving this generation regime in practice, and the conditions for a transition to the limit of ordinary active mode locking are all determined.

UDC: 621.373.826:535.417

PACS: 42.60.Da, 42.60.Fc, 42.60.Lh, 42.65.Re

Received: 09.02.1993

 English version: Quantum Electronics, 1993, 23:12, 1065–1071

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