Numerous interaction geometries have been developed for photorefractive materials that rely on amplification of light via the two-beam coupling effect. One of the most elegant and simple configurations is a unidirectional ring resonator, which consists of a photorefractive crystal placed in a ring cavity and pumped by an external beam [1]. If the two-beam coupling gain is above threshold, the resonating beam will build up from the amplification of scattered light.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)Jan 1, 19980 citations

A unidirectional photorefractive ring resonator oscillating at 633 nm

Hong Lin, David W. Weir, Adnan Yousuf +1 more

We have constructed an optical resonator using a photorefractive crystal as the gain medium. The orientation of the crystal and the angle between the signal and the pump beam are chosen to obtain optimal two-wave coupling. The average output power of the resonator is proportional to the power of the pump beam for a small cavity loss, but this linear relation is broken when the cavity loss is increased. The transverse beam pattern of the signal can be controlled by intracavity apertures.

American Journal of PhysicsJul 1, 19984 citations