Pulsations induced by quantum interference in a microchip solid-state laser operating on a /spl Lambda/-transition

Summary form only given. Quantum interference in a three-level atomic system with two fields operating in a /spl Lambda/ or V scheme has attracted much attention as a mechanism for the mediation of interactions between light and matter. Amplification and even laser-behavior without a population inversion can be produced by such a system. Kozyreff and Pandel have recently shown analytically and numerically that atomic interference in a microchip laser with a population inversion operating on a /spl Lambda/-transition should result in antiphase pulsations in the vicinity of the Hopf bifurcation point. The phenomenon has been observed in a LiNdP/sub 4/O/sub 12/ (LNP) laser operating on a /spl Lambda/-scheme consisting of /sup 4/F/sub 3/2/(1)/spl rarr//sup 4/I/sub 11/2/(2,3) transitions in a limited pump power region. This paper outlines our demonstration of peculiar large-amplitude periodic pulsations in an intracavity frequency-doubled microchip LNP laser operating on a /spl Lambda/-transition and contains a theoretical confirmation of the mechanism for these pulsations.