Electrodynamics of Lasers with an Open Resonator and Inhomogeneous Filling

Abstract

The field produced inside a solid-state laser is usually represented as a superposition of the normal modes of the empty resonator. It is assumed in this ease that the complex dielectric constant of the active medium filling the resonator is homogeneous in space. However, the inhomogeneity of the crystals used in real lasers, the unsteady output, and pumping inhomogeneity have the result that the real and imaginary parts of the complex dielectric constant are, generally speaking, functions of the coordinates and time. Spatial inhomogeneities significantly affect the operation of solid-state lasers.