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Chapter 11.
Laser Cavity Modes
Chapters 3 through 10 dealt with various aspects of the gain medium. In chapter 7,
we briefly mentioned that mirrors are used at the ends of the laser amplifier in order
to increase the effective length of the amplifier. At the time, we did not connect the
mirrors to the concept of cavity radiation, although the latter point was discussed in
chapter 6 in relation to thermal equilibrium and blackbody radiation.
In this chapter, we shall consider the properties associated with the optical cavity of
a laser that has mirrors on either end of the gain medium; these properties are
significant in determining the output characteristics of the laser beam. We will begin
by discussing the Fabry-Perot optical cavity, which leads to the concept of
longitudinal modes. Then, we will analyze a cavity with mirrors of finite size at the
ends of the amplifier, along with the associated diffraction losses. This will lead to
the development of transverse modes in the laser cavity. The effects of the
longitudinal and transverse modes on the laser properties will be briefly discussed.
Table of Contents
1
Fig. 1:
Transmitted and reflected rays when an EM wave arrives at a reflecting surface - see WTS Fig. 11-1
WTS 11.2
The various field components that are reflected or transmitted from the Fabry-Perot
resonator have a relative phase that is determined by the round-trip path length
between the mirrors. From Fig. 3, we see that this path length is equal to 2d cos .
The phase difference between successive reflected or transmitted coefficients is
therefore = kz = 2kd cos = 4d cos /.
We can now write down the total transmitted field amplitude by summing up the
individual terms. The transmitted field is
or,
Et = E0 t 2 + E0 t 2 r 2 e i = E0 t 2 r 4 e i 2 +
Et = E0 t 2 (1 + r 2 e i + r 4 e i 2 + ) = E0 t 2
r 2n e in .
(11.1)
(11.2)
n=0
X
1
r 2n e in =
.
(11.3)
1
r 2 e i
n=0
Therefore, the total transmitted field and intensity can be written as
E0 t 2
|t |4
|t |4
2
2
=
Et =
I
=
E
E
I
,
=
2 .
t
0
t
0
2
1 r 2 e i
1 r 2 e i
1 r 2 e i
(11.4)
WTS 11.2
Of course, it is possible that there is a phase change r /2 upon reflection for each
amplitude component. At a dielectric interface, the phase change is either 0
(internal) or (external), while at a metal interface, the phase change can take any
value. We incorporate this phase change by writing
r = |r | e i r /2 .
(11.5)
2
1 2R cos + R 2
#
"
4R
2
(1 R )2 1 +
.
sin
2
(1 R )2
WTS 11.2
If we then set
4R
,
(1 R )2
(11.8)
1
T2
.
(1 R )2 1 + F sin2 (/2)
(11.9)
F =
then we can write
It = I0
The expression 1/(1 + F sin2 (/2)) is referred to as the Airy function (not to be
confused with the other Airy function or the other other Airy function). F is called the
coefficient of finesse.
If we assume that there is no absorption, then R = 1 T , and we have simply
1
It
.
=
I0
1 + F sin2 (/2)
(11.10)
This is plotted (as a function of /2) in Fig. 4, for three different values of R . We see
that the function has a periodic series of maxima (with a value of unity) for
sin(/2) = 0, or /2 = n, n = 0, 1, 2, . The minima occur at /2 = (2n + 1)/2.
The minimum values depend on F (and thus on R ), but can be very small for
reasonably large values of R .
Fig. 4:
Transmitted intensity from a Fabry-Perot resonator vs. phase change - see WTS Fig. 11-4
WTS 11.2
We will refer to the values of that maximize It /I0 as max , and therefore
max = 2n =
4
d cos + r .
(11.11)
We can obtain the FWHM of the Airy function for large values of R (R > 0.6 or so) by
approximating sin(/2) as /2. The value of at which the Airy function reduces to
half of its maximum value will be referred to as . This is obtained by setting
1
1+
F ( /2)2
1
,
2
(11.12)
which leads to
2
= .
F
The FWHM is simply twice this value:
4
FWHM = 2 = .
F
(11.13)
(11.14)
WTS 11.2
More important than the FWHM is the ratio of the separation between peaks to the
FWHM. Because the peaks are separated by = 2, we have
F
2
R
=
=
F=
.
(11.15)
=
FWHM
2
1R
4/ F
F is referred to as the finesse of the cavity. In the case that the two mirrors have
different reflectivities,
(R1 R2 )1/4
F=
.
(11.16)
1 (R1 R2 )1/2
We are generally more interested in the width and separation of the peaks in terms
of frequency (rather than phase). On p. 377 it is derived that
sep =
c
,
2d
(11.17)
where is the refractive index of the medium between the mirrors. It follows that
FWHM =
sep
c (1 R )
=
.
F
2d R
(11.18)
WTS 11.2
2d R 0
0
Q=
(11.19)
=
,
FWHM
c (1 R )
or, when the mirror reflectivities differ,
Q=
2d (R1 R2 )1/4 0
.
c [1 (R1 R2 )1/2 ]
(11.20)
For most laser cavities, a high Q is desired. This helps to ensure that the spectral
width of the output is narrow - even narrower than the emission linewidth of the gain
medium. We will come back to this point later in the chapter.
d=n
!
max
n
.
2
(11.23)
This indicates that the peaks occur when an integer number of half-wavelengths fit
into the cavity length d ; these form standing waves with zero electric field at the
mirrors. Each of these standing waves is called a mode of the cavity.
Iin
1+R
=
.
It
1R
(11.24)
For R = 99%, this ratio is 199. A Fabry-Perot cavity can therefore serve as an
energy storage device for the cavity modes.
nc
1
2 C (d L ) + L L
(11.25)
Fig. 5:
Fig. 6:
Resulting laser cavity modes when a gain bandwidth of a laser amplifier is combined with resonances of a two-mirror
laser cavity - see WTS Fig. 11-7
Fig. 7:
Symbols used in the Fresnel-Kirchhoff diffraction integral formula - see WTS Fig. 11-8
Fig. 8:
Two parallel circular mirrors considered as apertures when applying the Fresnel-Kirchhoff integral formula to a laser
cavity - see WTS Fig. 11-9
Fig. 9:
Equivalent aperture description of a two-mirror reflective laser cavity - see WTS Fig. 11-10
(11.28)
We seek solutions for the case in which the light has bounced back and force
between the mirrors many times, so that it has reached a steady state transverse
profile. That is, the field has no further change in shape, although the overall
amplitude can decrease by a constant factor . This factor represents diffraction
losses around the edges of the circular mirrors, and is included in the factor a that
helps to determine the threshold gain in a laser (end of chapter 7).
Therefore, we need to find solutions such that U and U are proportional for every
point (x , y ) and (x , y ) on the two mirrors. This can be expressed by writing the F-K
integral as (note the misprint in the text)
"
U (x , y ) = U (x , y ) =
U (x , y )K (x , y , x , y )dxdy ,
(11.29)
A
where
ik
e ikr
.
(11.30)
(cos + 1)
4
r
This is an integral equation in U ; K is the kernel of the equation and is the
eigenvalue. There are an infinite number of solutions Un and n to this equation
(n = 1, 2, 3, ). They are referred to as the transverse modes of the resonator.
K (x , y , x , y ) =
It is important to note that n is a complex number: n = n e i n . n represents the
change in amplitude after a round trip, and n represents a possible phase shift. The
energy loss per transit is therefore
2
(11.31)
energy loss / round trip = 1 n .
(11.32)
K (x , y , x , y ) = Ce ik1 (xx +yy ) ,
where C and k1 are constants. A justification for this approximation is beyond the
scope of this course (although its central to the topic of Fourier optics). The integral
equation becomes
"
U (x , y ) = C
U (x , y )e ik1 (xx +yy ) dxdy
(11.33)
A
The simplest function that is its own Fourier transform is the Gaussian function,
2
(11.34)
U (x , y ) = e /w = e (x +y )/w ,
where is the radial distance to any point (x , y ) from the center of the mirror. w is a
scaling constant that represents the value of at which the field is reduced to a
fraction 1/e of its peak value (intensity is reduced to a fraction 1/e 2 ).
There are in fact an infinite set of equations that are their own Fourier transforms.
They can be written as the products of Hermite polynomials and the Gaussian
function:
2x
2y (x 2 +y 2 )/w 2
e
.
Upq (x , y ) = Hp
(11.35)
Hq
w w
Here, p and q are integers that designate the order of the Hermite polynomials.
Each set of (p , q) represents a specific stable distribution of wave amplitude at one
of the mirrors; that is, a specific transverse mode of the open-walled cavity. The
Hermite polynomials are defined by the function
2
Hm (u) = (1)m e u
where u denotes either
2x /w or 2y /w .
d m (e u )
,
dum
(11.36)
(11.37)
It should be noted that there is another defining equation for Hm (u) that differs very
slightly from eq. (11.36). The two equations lead to identical shapes, but different
scaling. Be aware of this if youre using another source for Hm (u).
Each of the transverse mode distributions Upq (x , y ) is designated as TEMpq , where
TEM stands for transverse electromagnetic. The lowest-order mode (TEM00 ) is
2
2
2
simply the Gaussian distribution e (x +y )/w .
The Hermite-Gaussian solutions of eq. (11.33) were obtained by solving the integral
equation in Cartesian (x , y ) coordinates, which is why they have x y symmetry. It is
also possible to solve the F-K integral in cylindrical coordinates, resulting in solutions
which have cylindrical symmetry. These form a set of Laguerre-Gaussian modes,
which are now designated by a pair of integers indicating the radial and azimuthal
order. The L-G solutions will not be written out here.
In a laser cavity with perfect cylindrical symmetry, it is the L-G modes which will be
present. The H-G modes require a small degree of astigmatism in the cavity (in
order to force a preferred orientation of Cartesian axes). One common method of
providing this astigmatism will be mentioned later in this chapter.
Fig. 10:
Mode patterns for various transverse laser modes: pure modes in (a) circular symmetry and (b) Cartesian
symmetry - see WTS Fig. 11-14
Fig. 11:
Fractional power loss per transit vs. Fresnel number for a laser cavity - see WTS Fig. 11-11
Fig. 12:
A simplified description of two distinct transverse laser modes, showing the larger effective path length for a
higher-order mode - see WTS Fig. 11-13
Fig. 13:
(a) Reflected intensity vs. angle for light reflected from an air-glass interface. (b) Brewster angle window providing
very low reflection loss for light polarized in the plane of the figure - see WTS Fig. 11-15
Fig. 14:
Laser gain distribution within a laser amplifier due to spectral hole burning - see WTS Fig. 11-16
Fig. 15:
Laser gain distribution within a laser amplifier due to spatial hole burning - see WTS Fig. 11-17