Abstract

A mechanism is proposed for the nonreciprocal behavior of a traveling-wave acousto-optic Q switch, whose use can provide an effective way to enforce unidirectional and hence single-frequency operation of a ring laser. Simple energy and momentum conservation considerations show that the Bragg condition is satisfied at different angles of incidence for the two counterpropagating beams, which leads to a difference in their diffraction losses. The loss difference, measured directly for a diode-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser, yielded values in close agreement with calculated values. Implications of these results for both single-frequency cw and Q-switched operation of diode-pumped solid-state ring lasers are discussed.

© 1992 Optical Society of America

Acousto-optic modulators as unidirectional devices in ring lasers

Murray K. Reed and William K. Bischel
Opt. Lett. 17(9) 691-693 (1992)

Acousto-optically induced unidirectional and single-frequency operation of a Nd:glass ring laser based on the acousto-optic effect in the laser medium

W. A. Clarkson, D. C. Hanna, D. S. Lovering, and G. C. W. Jones
Opt. Lett. 19(24) 2059-2061 (1994)

Single-frequency Q-switched operation of a diode-laser-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser using an acousto-optic modulator

L. J. Bromley and D. C. Hanna
Opt. Lett. 16(6) 378-380 (1991)

Acousto-optic modulator as an electronically selectable unidirectional device in a ring laser

R. Roy, P. A. Schulz, and A. Walther
Opt. Lett. 12(9) 672-674 (1987)

Unidirectional ring-laser operation using sum-frequency mixing

Peter Tidemand-Lichtenberg, Haynes Pak Hay Cheng, and Christian Pedersen
Opt. Lett. 35(15) 2567-2569 (2010)