Effects of external cavities on laser spectra: application to a fibre laser

Abstract

Laser spectra are strongly modified by the optical feedback which is provided by external cavities; here we give a preliminary experimental result describing the optical spectrum of a fibre laser having two identical end cavities, which appear between the external mirrors and fibre ends. One observes a channelled spectrum including mode clusters separated by empty regions. We use the optical Airy function defined in the pure frequency domain to study these spectra. An optical Vernier effect allows the description of this structure. The linewidth of each mode is calculated as a function of the gain, by using the same Airy function.