General Spherical Resonator

The confocal resonator with d=R can be replaced by other mirror configurations without
changing the field configurations if the radius Ri (R1 and R2) of each mirror at the position Zo
equals the radius R’ of the wave front at this position. This means that any two surfaces of
constant phase can be replaced by reflectors, which have the same radius of curvature as the
wave front (within approximation).

In this figure, dotted curves are phase fronts (wave fronts) having radius R’(z).
The beam radii on the spot size for the confocal resonator (R1=R2=d):

Eq. 1
For the symmetric resonator (R1=R2=R):

At z=0, Eq. 2

At z=土d/2, Eq. 3
W1 and W 2 are the beam radii on the spot size at mirror 1 and 2 respectively.

(Note: You may verify equation 1 (for z=0 and 土d/2) from eq 2 and 3 by using R1=R2=R=d)

Let define dimensionless parameters for the cavity (g-parameters)

1
For the symmetric resonator (R1=R2), we have g1=g2=g

Eq. 4

Eq.3 ⇒ Eq. 5

The mode waist is minimum for g = 0, i.e., d = R. The confocal resonator has the

smallest beam waist. Also, the spot sizes are minimum for g = 0 (at mirrors).
Therefore,
Of all symmetric resonators with a given mirror separation d the confocal resonator with d = R
has the smallest spot sizes at the mirrors and the smallest beam waist .

.
Stability of resonators: ‘g’ parameter:

For a stationary field distribution, where the Gaussian beam profile (TEM00 mode) reproduces
itself after each round-trip, one obtains for a resonator (general spherical resonator) consisting
of two spherical mirrors with the radii R1, R2, separated by the distance d, the spot sizes
on the mirror surfaces (in terms of g-parameters):

Eq. 1 Eq. 2

with Eq. 3

Beam waist is defined as

Eq. 4

2
for symmetric resonator, R1=R2=R ⇒g1 = g2 = g = 1-d/R
Eq. 1 and 2 ⇒

Eq. 4 ⇒

for confocal symmetric resonator, R1=R2=R=d ⇒g=0

Equation (1 and 2) reveals that for g1 = 0 the spot size becomes ∞ at M1 and at M2,
while for g2 = 0 the situation is reversed. For g1g2 = 1 both spot sizes become infinite. This
implies that the Gaussian beam diverges: the resonator becomes unstable. An exception is the
confocal resonator with g1 = g2 = 0, which is “metastable”, because it is only stable if both
parameters g are exactly zero. For g1g2 >1 or g1g2 < 0, the right-hand sides of (Eq. 1 & 2)
i

become imaginary, which means that the resonator is unstable. The condition for a stable
resonator is therefore

The beam waist of a confocal nonsymmetric resonator with R1 = R2 is no longer at

the center of the resonator (as for symmetric resonators).

With the general stability parameter

we can distinguish stable resonators: 0 < |G| < 1,

unstable resonators: |G| > 1,
metastable resonators: |G| = 1.

Some commonly used optical resonators with their stability parameters gi =1−d/Ri , and
the resonator parameters G = 2g1g2−1

a. Symmetric: R1=R2 ⇒ g1=g2=g, G=2g2 - 1 ⇒ IGI < 1

3
b. Concentric: R1 + R2 = d

⇒ G=1

c. Symmetric confocal:

⇒ G=-1
d. Symmetric concentric:

R1=R2=d/2

e. Plane:
R1=R2=ꝏ

4
According to the plane resonator (R1 = R2 =∞ ⇒ g1 = g2 = 1) is not stable,
because the spot size of a Gaussian beam would increase after each round-trip.

f. Semiconfocal:

If in a symmetric confocal resonator a plane mirror is placed at the beam waist (where
the phase front is a plane), a semiconfocal resonator forms.

5
 (Stability diagram of optical resonators. The shaded areas represent stable resonators.)

The symmetric confocal resonator with g1 = g2 = 0 might be called “metastable,” since it is

located between unstable regions in the stability diagram and even a slight deviation of g1, g2
into the direction g1g2 < 0 makes the resonator unstable.