The quantum theory of two-level atom single-mode laser system of Sargent, Scully and Lamb is extended to two-mode laser in a three-level atomic system with common lower level, and master equation is obtained for the system with all the three levels being pumped. There appear four terms in the master equation that are absent in the single-mode case and those interpreted as 2-photon processes play an especial role in the present case. The master equation is represented by a probability flow diagram in two-dimensions with the photon numbers n1 and n2 of the two-mode as variables. The probability flow diagram can be extended to infinity, and each arrow of it represents a term of the right hand side of master equation. By taking sum over one of the variables n1 or n2, the master equation is reduced to two equations, each of them can be represented by an one-dimensional probability flow diagram. The equation of motion under steady state is obtained by considering the correspondence between the macroscopic balance and the microscopic balance.A parameter H is introduced to reduce the equation of motion and to facilitate the mathematical procedure and a formal solution is thus obtained. Using the equation of motion and its formal solution various operation characteristics are discussed. Among them are: the threshold condition for each mode; the condition of only one mode operation; the variation of photon statistics between single-mode operation and two-mode operation and the variation of photon statistics with lower level being pumped and not pumped.
The quantum theory of the three-energy-level two-mode laser in which all the levels are being pumped is investigated and the master equation of the laser operation is obtained. It contains two variables,
n1, the photon number of the first mode, and
n2, the photon number of the second mode. There appear four terms in the master equation which represent two-photon processes between the two modes, the absorption of a photon from one mode, and emission of a photon to the other. They are absent in the single-mode case and in the two-mode case with pumping only to the upper level. The master equation can be represented by a diagram of probability in two dimensions which can be extended to infinity, and each arrow of it represents a term on the right-hand side of the master equation. By summing each variable (
n1 or
n2) of the master equation, two equations can be obtained. Each equation contains only one variable, and can be expressed by a diagram of probability flow in one dimension. By considering the correspondence between macroscopic equilibrium and microscopic detailed balance the equations of motion in the steady state are obtained. By introducing a parameter
H, the equation of motion is simplified and a formal solution can be deduced which is dependent on
H. It appears that the parameter
H cannot be fully determined, but some properties of it can be deduced which prove that the introduction of
H is reasonable. The operation characteristics of the laser under different conditions are discussed on the basis of the formal solution: among them are the threshold condition, the condition for one-mode operation, and the change of the photon-statistical distribution. We especially discuss the laser output power curves under two-mode operation above threshold. The curve of one mode, which oscillates first, shows a bending-down phenomenon as the excitation increases when the other mode goes beyond its threshold as demonstrated experimentally by Otsuka. This phenomenon is explained qualitatively and is attributed to the two-photon processes between the two modes.
The quantum-statistical properties of the optical field of a two-mode laser with two coupled transitions have been studied by means of a generalization of the Scully and Lamb theory. The photon number distribution and the mode intensity distribution are obtained in the steady state for a system of homogeneously broadened atoms in resonance with the laser field. It is shown that the mode-coupling constant $\ensuremath{\xi}$ is unity and that near threshold the results of earlier treatments are recovered. Furthermore, it is shown that certain limit measures for the relative intensity fluctuations predicted by the semiclassical Fokker-Planck treatments based on the third-order theory are valid even in the limit of arbitrarily high gain levels.