We model the behavior of short and ultrashort laser pulses in high-finesse Fabry-Perot resonators, examining, in particular, the influence of cavity mirror reflectance and dispersion. The total coupling, peak power enhancement and temporal broadening of circulating pulses are characterized a function of the duration of the incident pulses.We show that there is an optimal input pulse duration which maximizes peak power for a given set of mirror characteristics.

© 2003 Optical Society of America

1. R.W.P. Drever, J.L. Hall, F.V. Kowalski, J. Hough, G.M. Ford, A.J. Munley and H. Ward, �??Laser phase and frequency stabilization using an optical resonator,�?? Appl. Phys. B 31, 97 (1983). [CrossRef]
2. R.J. Jones and J.-C. Diels, �??Stabilization of femtosecond lasers for optical frequency metrology and direct optical to radio frequency synthesis,�?? Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 3288 (2001). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
3. S. Link, H.A. D¨urr and W. Eberhardt, �??Femtosecond spectroscopy,�?? J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 13 7873-7884 (2001). [CrossRef]
4. J.C. Petersen and A.N. Luiten, �??Resonant Polarization Interferometry with Ultrashort Laser Pulses,�?? Phys. Rev. A (in preparation).
5. R.J. Jones and J. Ye, �??Femtosecond pulse amplification by coherent addition in a passive optical cavity,�?? Opt. Lett. 27, 1848 (2002) [CrossRef]
6. T. Udem, J. Reichert, R. Holzwarth, M. Niering, M. Weitz and T.W. H¨ansch, �??Measuring the Frequency of Light with Mode-Locked Lasers,�?? in A.N. Luiten (Ed.), Frequency Measurement and Control, Topics Appl. Phys. 79 275 (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2001). [CrossRef]
7. A.E. Siegman, Lasers (University Science Books, Sausalito, 1986).
8. CVI Laser Corporation (www.cvilaser.com).
9. F. Brunner et al, �??240-fs pulses with 22-W average power from a mode-locked thin-disk Yb:KY(WO4)2 laser,�?? Opt. Lett. 27, 1162-1164 (2002). [CrossRef]
10. T. Beddard et al, �??High-average-power, 1-MW peak-power self-mode-locked Ti:sapphire oscillator,�?? Opt. Lett. 24, 163-165 (1999). [CrossRef]

Appl. Phys. B

• R.W.P. Drever, J.L. Hall, F.V. Kowalski, J. Hough, G.M. Ford, A.J. Munley and H. Ward, �??Laser phase and frequency stabilization using an optical resonator,�?? Appl. Phys. B 31, 97 (1983). [CrossRef]

J. Phys.: Condens. Matter

• S. Link, H.A. D¨urr and W. Eberhardt, �??Femtosecond spectroscopy,�?? J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 13 7873-7884 (2001). [CrossRef]

Opt. Lett.

• R.J. Jones and J. Ye, �??Femtosecond pulse amplification by coherent addition in a passive optical cavity,�?? Opt. Lett. 27, 1848 (2002) [CrossRef]
• F. Brunner et al, �??240-fs pulses with 22-W average power from a mode-locked thin-disk Yb:KY(WO4)2 laser,�?? Opt. Lett. 27, 1162-1164 (2002). [CrossRef]
• T. Beddard et al, �??High-average-power, 1-MW peak-power self-mode-locked Ti:sapphire oscillator,�?? Opt. Lett. 24, 163-165 (1999). [CrossRef]

Phys. Rev. A

• J.C. Petersen and A.N. Luiten, �??Resonant Polarization Interferometry with Ultrashort Laser Pulses,�?? Phys. Rev. A (in preparation).

Phys. Rev. Lett.

• R.J. Jones and J.-C. Diels, �??Stabilization of femtosecond lasers for optical frequency metrology and direct optical to radio frequency synthesis,�?? Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 3288 (2001). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Topics Appl. Phys.

• T. Udem, J. Reichert, R. Holzwarth, M. Niering, M. Weitz and T.W. H¨ansch, �??Measuring the Frequency of Light with Mode-Locked Lasers,�?? in A.N. Luiten (Ed.), Frequency Measurement and Control, Topics Appl. Phys. 79 275 (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2001). [CrossRef]

Other

• A.E. Siegman, Lasers (University Science Books, Sausalito, 1986).
• CVI Laser Corporation (www.cvilaser.com).

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