Polarization states and coherent effects in a coherently pumpedJ″=1→J=0→J′=1isotropic-cavity laser

Abstract

We have theoretically explored the behavior of a coherently pumped ${J}^{\ensuremath{''}}=\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{1}J=\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{0}{J}^{\ensuremath{'}}=1$ isotropic cavity laser and compared it with the behavior of other related laser systems involving atomic or molecular levels with angular quantum numbers $0$ and $1.$ It is shown that at low and moderate pumping strengths it behaves very differently from the ${J}^{\ensuremath{''}}=\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{0}J=\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{1}{J}^{\ensuremath{'}}=0$ laser exhibiting no pump-induced gain anisotropy and allowing for linearly polarized (LP) solutions with arbitrary azimuth and circularly polarized (CP) solutions, depending on the values of the molecular relaxation rates. Above the instability threshold, a variety of dynamic regimes involving the polarization degree of freedom can be found, including LP states with rotating azimuth (as in incoherently pumped $J=\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{0}{J}^{\ensuremath{'}}=1$ or $J=\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{1}{J}^{\ensuremath{'}}=0$ lasers), antiphase dynamics, and full polarization chaos.