Beats in a solid-state ring laser

Abstract

An investigation is made of the interaction between opposite waves in a solid-state ring laser with a homogeneously broadened gain profile. A solution is obtained for a regime of self-modulation of the intensities and phase differences between the opposite waves in a laser at rest. When the laser is rotated, the self-modulation regime transforms into beats at a sufficiently high angular velocity. Further increase in the angular velocity in the beats regime suppresses one of the opposite waves and reduces the amplitude of the modulation at the beat frequency. Above a certain angular velocity this amplitude vanishes and beats give place to locked opposite waves. The stabilities and ranges of existence of these regimes are investigated.