Based on calculations and experiments, a He–Ne laser has been developed with effective intracavity magnetooptical modulation at λ = 1.15 μm. A polarization-anisotropic element — a magnetic diffraction grating made of yttrium iron garnet — is mounted in a matched passive arm of the triple-mirror cavity of the laser and serves as the modulator element. Modulation is produced using the Faraday effect, which simultaneously leads to efficient diffraction of the laser radiation on the asymmetric strip domain structure of a magnetic diffraction grating and to rotation of the E vector. The Jones matrix method is used to calculate the frequency and polarization characteristics. These, along with the modulation characteristics, were also studied experimentally. It is shown that amplitude modulation at frequencies up to 180 kHz takes place for small single-pass Faraday rotation angles (θF). The threshold frequency is determined by the response time of the magnetizing Helmholtz coil. The depth of modulation is 50%. For θF > θt (where θt is the threshold), frequency modulation takes place with a deviation of up to several megahertz.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
H. M. Haskal, IEEE Trans. Agnetics, MAG-6, No. 3, 542–545 (1970).
Ya. A. Monosov, P. I. Nabokin, and A. A. Tulaikova, Mikroélektronika, 6, No. 3, 211–225 (1977).
G. D. Jones and A. Y. Ellezzabi, SPIE Conf. on Terahertz and Gigahertz Photonics, Denver, Colorado (1999).
Yang Chia-En, Chen Meng-Ku, Yao Jimmy, and S. Yin Stuart, Proc. SPIE, 7056, 70560S (2008).
V. A. Molchanov and G. V. Skrotskii, Kvant. Élektron., No. 4, 3–26 (1971).
A. Gerrard and J. M. Burch, Introduction to Matrix Methods in Optics [Russian translation], Mir, Moscow (1978).
V. A. Tabarin, Laboratory Manual for Quantum Electronics, a textbook [in Russian], Surgut State Univ., Surgut (2007).
E. F. Ishchenko, Open Optical Cavities [in Russian], Radio, Moscow (1980).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 76, No. 2, pp. 188–193, March–April, 2009.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tabarin, V.A., Shadrin, G.A. Magneto-optical modulation of a triple-mirror laser beam. J Appl Spectrosc 76, 174–179 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10812-009-9169-z
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10812-009-9169-z