Title :
Self-starting laser with cavity completed by dynamic holographic grating induced in a nematic liquid crystal near phase transition point
Author :
Kuzhelev, A.S. ; Zinov´ev, A.P. ; Eremeykin, O.N. ; Antipov, O.L. ; Macdonald, R.
Author_Institution :
Inst. of Appl. Phys., Acad. of Sci., Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Abstract :
Summary form only given.Resonators of laser oscillators can be completed by dynamic holographic gratings induced by generating waves in a nonlinear medium. The interest in the self-starting lasers with the nonlinear mirrors is related to their unique properties such as the adaptive correction of thermal distortions, dynamic control of beam parameters, etc. The use of media with giant nonlinear coefficients, such as nematic liquid crystals (NLCs), in these lasers for the formation of nonlinear mirrors is of particular interest. We present the experimental and numerical results of our study of a self-starting laser oscillator with cavity completed by nonlinear refractive index grating induced in a NLC at temperature near (beyond or below) the nematic-isotropic phase transition point.
Keywords :
holographic gratings; laser cavity resonators; laser mirrors; liquid crystal phase transformations; multiwave mixing; nematic liquid crystals; neodymium; optical Kerr effect; solid lasers; Kerr nonlinearity; YAG:Nd; YAl5O12:Nd; cavity resonators; dynamic holographic grating; four-wave mixing; frequency detuning; giant nonlinear coefficient media; near phase transition point NLC; nonlinear mirrors; self-starting laser; Adaptive control; Gratings; Holography; Laser noise; Laser transitions; Liquid crystals; Mirrors; Nonlinear distortion; Oscillators; Programmable control;
Conference_Titel :
Lasers and Electro-Optics, 2000. (CLEO 2000). Conference on
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA, USA
Print_ISBN :
1-55752-634-6
DOI :
10.1109/CLEO.2000.906704