Theory of the fundamental linewidth of a two-mode laser

Abstract

Starting from the field master equation for a laser oscillating simultaneously in two modes, we probe the dependence of its fundamental phase-diffusion linewidth on the degree of coupling between the two modes. We find that the heterodyned intrinsic linewidth shows the usual decrease when the output power of each mode increases with an increase in the gain, while the nonlinear self-saturation and cross-coupling coefficients are held constant. The linewidth also decreases with increase in the cross-coupling between the modes for constant gain when the output power of each mode is kept constant by decreasing the self-saturation coefficient. The linewidth, however, increases with increasing cross-coupling when (a) the gain and the self-saturation coefficient are held constant and hence the output power in each mode decreases and (b) the gain is increased keeping the output power and the self-saturation of each mode constant.