Bistable phase locking in a low Fresnel number nondegenerate optical oscillator with injected signal

An alternative mechanism for inducing the bistable phase locking in a low Fresnel number laser, inspired in the rocking technique. In consists in the transverse spatial modulation of a nearly resonant, monochromatic injected signal. The basic setup is a laser with spherical mirrors oscillating at a TEM₀₀ mode, and the injected signal has a TEM₀₀ cavity mode shape, which shows two opposite phase values in adjacent spatial domains. Then, the TEM₀₀ mode will lock to some phase value but, as two opposite phases are injected simultaneously, phase bistability is expected, and observed under appropriate conditions. Here we intend to use this technique to prove the above mechanism in a nondegenerate BaTiO₃ photorefractive oscillator with spherical mirrors. Preliminary results, show similarities with the theoretical predictions, pointing to the feasibility of the injection mechanism. Further analysis of the data is necessary in order to corroborate the existence of phase bistability.