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Physical Review A

Experimental evidence of antiphase population dynamics in lasers

E. Cabrera, Óscar G. Calderón, J. M. Guerra

Published Oct 27, 2005• 11 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report a direct experimental observation of antiphase oscillations in population dynamics in lasers. We show that these population oscillations are intrinsically related to the well-known antiphase polarization dynamics, i.e., the antiphase oscillations of two orthogonal polarization laser field states. We have used a class $B$ Nd:YAG (yttrium aluminum garnet) laser.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.72.043824

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We report a direct experimental observation of antiphase oscillations in population dynamics in lasers. We show that these population oscillations are intrinsically related to the well-known antiphase polarization dynamics, i.e., the antiphase oscillations of two orthogonal polarization laser field states. We have used a class BBB Nd:YAG (yttrium aluminum garnet) laser.
The response of a Nd3+{\text{Nd}}^{3+}Nd3+-doped yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser is examined experimentally when the pump polarization direction is abruptly changed from one to the other stress-induced principal axis of the cavity. As a result, the laser output polarization changes direction but only after a significant delay. We numerically solve rate equations that describe the evolution of the two polarization fields coupled to the population inversion. The simulations indicate that the polarization switching (PS) delay depends on two successive processes that we analyze using multi-time-scale techniques. The analysis predicts two qualitatively different PS responses depending on how close the laser is from its threshold. Finally, we compare quantitatively the experimental and theoretical estimates of the PS delay.
The dynamics of a quasi-isotropic continuous-wave solid-state laser sustaining the oscillation of two orthogonally polarized eigenstates is experimentally investigated. A set of phase-sensitive vectorial Maxwell-Bloch equations is developed to describe theoretically the evolution of such a laser. Different temporal behaviors for the output intensities are observed, depending on the relative amounts and orientations of the phase and loss anisotropies and on the frequency of relaxation oscillations. Namely, the frequency locking of the two orthogonally linearly polarized eigenstates is shown to lead to a surprising pulsed mode-locked oscillation regime. In addition, for different values of the parameters, other peculiar operation regimes are found, such as cw circularly polarized, double-pulsed, or triple-pulsed output intensities. These experimental results, obtained using a diode-pumped Nd:YAG (YAG denotes yttrium aluminum garnet) laser, are well confirmed by the theoretical model.
We analyze the intensity fluctuation of multimode lasers by extending the linear-response theory of McCumber for single-mode lasers. In the two-mode case, we prove analytically that the rate equations allow for an additional dynamical oscillation frequency associated with the antiphase motion. This explains the self-organized collective behavior of two-mode lasers, i.e., that the total output behaves just like a single-mode laser. The linear stability predicts the scaling law for this time scale, which results quite generally through cross-saturation dynamics of population inversion. Experimental results in two different laser systems confirm these predictions.
We study a Nd-doped microchip glass laser that emits in two polarizations and in many longitudinal modes. Saturation of the inversion by standing waves causes spatial inhomogeneity of both the longitudinal and azimuthal distributions of the laser gain. These nonlinear inhomogeneities couple the modes and result in low-frequency oscillations (10--500 kHz) of the light flux in the individual laser modes. These oscillations are steadily driven by quantum noise and appear as 15% fluctuations of the power in each mode. In-phase fluctuations in the laser modes appear at the frequency of the main relaxation oscillation of the total laser power. Antiphase fluctuations appear at other frequencies in individual longitudinal and polarization laser modes only. The dominant frequency of these fluctuations is determined by the light power in the mode. Numerical simulations of rate equations, including Langevin forces, satisfactorily reproduce the experimental results. These phenomena must be taken into account when lasers are applied as stable coherent optical light sources, and also with sensitive absorption measurements in the laser cavity.