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Applied Physics Letters

WAVE INTERACTIONS IN SATURABLE ABSORBERS

S. E. Schwarz, Teng Yong Tan

Published Jan 1, 1967• 116 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The interaction between waves in an idealized saturable absorber is discussed. It is shown that the presence of a strong wave will cause the line to appear to be ``hole-burned'' when probed by a second wave, even though the broadening mechanisms are conventionally homogeneous. This effect would be expected to work against the tendency of dye-switched ruby lasers to operate in a single mode. Related effects should play a role in optical pulse generators and in other devices using saturable absorbers.

DOI
10.1063/1.1754798

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Optics Letters•Oct 15, 2002•1 citation
The interaction between waves in an idealized saturable absorber is discussed. It is shown that the presence of a strong wave will cause the line to appear to be ``hole-burned'' when probed by a second wave, even though the broadening mechanisms are conventionally homogeneous. This effect would be expected to work against the tendency of dye-switched ruby lasers to operate in a single mode. Related effects should play a role in optical pulse generators and in other devices using saturable absorbers.
A theoretical study of amplitude (AM) and frequency (FM) modulation components of an optical wave interacting resonantly with a homogeneously broadened two-level system is presented. It is shown that the AM component is usually less attenuated than the FM component; however, under conditions which depend on the modulation frequency, relaxation times, and the saturation parameter, the reverse may occur. In strongly saturated media the AM component can be amplified, a process limited by the depletion of the carrier intensity as the wave propagates in the absorber. The two- and three-wave cases of unidirectional saturation spectroscopy are considered and the effects of depletion are discussed. In the two-wave (single-probe) case a third wave is generated which substantially modifies the absorption profile for the probe. An analysis is included of the sideband evolution in a laser with an intracavity saturable absorber. By analyzing the problem in the frequency domain, some new insights concerning the role of the saturable absorber in passively mode-locked lasers are presented.
The results of frequency locking experiments with coupled ruby lasers are presented. The single axial mode characteristics of an individual saturable dye-switched laser can be understood without requiring spectroscopic hole burning in the dye. For coupled lasers in which frequency locking is observed, the existence of a spectroscopic hole seems necessary to explain the experimental results. The widths of the holes are inferred to be about 0.10 cm-1 using pyridine and 0.04 cm-1 using cyclohexanol as solvents. A relatively slow time dependent perturbation of the dye by thermal density fluctuations in the solvent yields a fluctuation in the transition energy of about 0.12 cm-1, which is in qualitative agreement with the inferred widths.