中国物理B ›› 2007, Vol. 16 ›› Issue (11): 3416-3422.doi: 10.1088/1009-1963/16/11/045

• • 上一篇    下一篇

Optical feedback characteristics in a helium neon laser with a birefringent internal cavity

毛威, 张书练, 徐亭, 万新军, 刘刚   

  • 出版日期:2007-11-20 发布日期:2007-11-20

Optical feedback characteristics in a helium neon laser with a birefringent internal cavity

Mao Wei(毛威), Zhang Shu-Lian(张书练), Xu Ting(徐亭), Wan Xin-Jun(万新军), and Liu Gang(刘刚)   

  1. The State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Department of Precision Instruments, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
  • Online:2007-11-20 Published:2007-11-20

Abstract: The output characteristics of optical feedback in a helium–neon laser with a birefringent internal cavity are studied systematically in five different regions of the gain curve for the two orthogonally polarized modes. When the laser operates in the two end regions of the laser gain curve, one of the two orthogonally polarized modes will be a leading one in optical feedback. Strong mode competition can be observed. However, when the laser operates in the middle region of the laser gain curve, the two modes can oscillate equally with optical feedback. Besides the intensity of the two polarized lights, the total light intensity is also studied at the same time. M-shaped optical feedback curves are found. Particularly, when the average intensities of the two lights are comparable, the intensity modulation curve of the total light is doubled, which can be used to improve the resolution of an optical feedback system.  

Key words: optical feedback, birefringent internal cavity, self-mixing interference, mode competition

中图分类号:  (Gas lasers including excimer and metal-vapor lasers)

  • 42.55.Lt
42.60.Da (Resonators, cavities, amplifiers, arrays, and rings) 42.60.Jf (Beam characteristics: profile, intensity, and power; spatial pattern formation) 42.60.Lh (Efficiency, stability, gain, and other operational parameters)