Dynamics of a Boundary Layer in Nonlinear Total Internal Reflection Inside a Laser Resonator

Abstract

Computer simulation of the processes occurring in a thin layer of absorbing liquid adjoining a transparent dielectric with internal reflection from the interface is carried out for the case where the reflector is incorporated into the resonator of a solid-state laser. It is shown that the process of heating the liquid layer near the wall is essentially nonadiabatic. The sharp increase in the pressure of the liquid in the period of maximal heating leads to a situation where the temperatures of switching on and switching off of the total internal reflection at the interface become substantially different. The difference becomes smaller with decrease in the liquid-layer thickness due to a more efficient heat removal, which displays itself as a change in the character of single-pulse laser generation. Periodic emission of nanosecond pulses in the liquid layer in a quasistationary lasing regime is found, whose characteristic feature is stabilization of the liquid-layer temperature.