Theory of output beam divergence in pulsed unstable resonators

Author

Eggleston, John M.

Author_Institution

Solidlite Corp., Redmond, WA, USA

Volume

24

Issue

7

fYear

1988

fDate

7/1/1988 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1302

Lastpage

1311

Abstract

The evolution of the far-field pattern of pulsed large-Fresnel-number unstable resonators is analyzed. Both geometrical optic and physical optic descriptions are given as a function of the number of trips around the unstable resonator. The analysis determines apparent size and distance to the image of the spontaneous emission source, as seen from the output aperture by looking back through multiple passes of the resonator. It is shown that this image is not obstructed by intervening apertures. The output far-field pattern is predicted to be the pattern generated by the output aperture when illuminated by incoherent light from the image of the spontaneous emission source. Far-field intensity patterns are analyzed for square and circular apertures, and the beam quality of the output is determined

Keywords

geometrical optics; laser beams; laser cavity resonators; physical optics; apparent size; circular apertures; distance; far-field pattern; geometrical optics; incoherent light; physical optic descriptions; pulsed large-Fresnel-number unstable resonators; spontaneous emission source; square apertures; Apertures; Coherence; Diffraction; Optical interferometry; Optical pulses; Optical resonators; Pattern analysis; Physical optics; Spontaneous emission; Stimulated emission;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.967

Filename

967