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Journal of Modern Optics

Laser Instabilities and Chaos in Inhomogeneously Broadened Dense Media

Charles M. Bowden, Suneel Pratap Singh, Govind Prasad Agrawal

Published Jan 1, 1995• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We study numerically the effects of local-field corrections originating from near dipole—dipole interactions on the dynamics of a single mode, inhomogeneously broadened laser. Our analysis is based on a set of generalized Maxwell–Bloch equations in which the inhomogeneous nature of gain broadening is accounted for by introducing two new dynamical variables and a single parameter that governs the extent of inhomogeneous broadening. Our results show that local-field effects occurring in a dense gain medium reduce the range of continuous wave operation and lead to instabilities and chaos at much lower pumping levels.

DOI
10.1080/09500349514550081

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We study numerically the effects of local-field corrections originating from near dipole—dipole interactions on the dynamics of a single mode, inhomogeneously broadened laser. Our analysis is based on a set of generalized Maxwell–Bloch equations in which the inhomogeneous nature of gain broadening is accounted for by introducing two new dynamical variables and a single parameter that governs the extent of inhomogeneous broadening. Our results show that local-field effects occurring in a dense gain medium reduce the range of continuous wave operation and lead to instabilities and chaos at much lower pumping levels.
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This paper gives a full account of the dynamical properties of single-mode inhomogeneously broadened lasers. The study divides itself into two parts. First, the integro-differential ``Maxwell-Bloch'' equations, which describe such systems, are numerically solved for a large scan of values of the various control parameters that govern the dynamical evolution of self-pulsing lasers. The instability hierarchies, delimited with respect to the excitation parameter, reveal that, along with the various decay rates of the interacting variables, the chosen number of velocity components, which divides the polarization integral into discrete intervals, also plays an important role in the dynamical evolution of the system, especially in the self-pulsing regime of operation. The second part of this paper concerns another approach to modeling single-mode inhomogeneously broadened laser dynamics that largely circumvents the infinite-dimensional complexity of the medium's polarization. A hierarchy of low-dimensional models, with increasing accuracy with respect to the infinite-dimensional ``Maxwell-Bloch'' equations, is constructed and adapted to describe correctly most of the properties of single-mode inhomogeneously broadened lasers.
The dynamic behavior of a coherently pumped single-mode unidirectional ring laser with a homogeneously broadened three-level active medium is studied. Our formulation is based on a set often real equations of the plane-wave, mean-field Maxwell–Bloch type. The instability domain in the main control parameters space is determined. Our numerical study of these equations for a parameter range of the type explored in the recent experiments by Weiss Brock [ Phys. Rev. Lett.57, 2804 ( 1986)] reveals some similarities, but striking differences between our theoretical predictions and their experimental observations are also noted.
We consider the dynamics of an inhomogeneously broadened unidirectional ring laser formulated in the traditional Maxwell-Bloch configuration of a two-level atom with transverse modes. We numerically analyze the model for a single-longitudinal mode in the paraxial approximation, using the uniform field limit with cylindrical symmetry and a Gaussian profile for inhomogeneous broadening. Several domains of solutions are found for the resonant case in the good cavity limit. The laser threshold is found to be dependent on the mode spacing as well as on the gain and scaled Doppler broadening. Hysteresis between stable and unstable solutions is obtained in realistic operating conditions for both increasing (decreasing) gain and increasing (decreasing) mode spacing (i.e., for changes in the initial conditions).
This paper contains a description of the behavior of a multimode unidirectional ring laser with a homogeneously broadened active medium. Our formulation is based on the conventional Maxwell-Bloch (MB) equations, but is distinguished from other treatments by the inclusion of a finite mirror reflectivity and an arbitrary value of the gain parameter. We review the steady-state behavior of the system and analyze the longitudinal profile of the field and of the atomic variables. With an appropriate transformation of variables, we transform the boundary conditions of the ring cavity into standard periodicity type, even in the presence of a finite reflectivity, and derive an infinite hierarchy of coupled mode equations. We analyze exactly the linear stability of the system, and investigate the dependence of the instability domain on the reflectivity and gain parameters. A numerical study of the full MB equations for a parameter range of the type explored in the recent experiments by Hillman et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 52, 1605 (1984)] reveals similarities, but also considerable differences between the results of the theory and the main experimental signatures of their instability. However, the injection of numerical noise shows the presence of numerous coexisting basins of attraction which are likely to play a significant role in the dynamics of a noisy laser.