Abstract
We reported the feedback characteristics of a ring laser with nonreciprocal feedback configuration. The clockwise/counterclockwise laser output is reflected and then reinjected into the cavity with the same direction. A nonreciprocal device composed of two quarter-wave plates and a Faraday rotator is placed in the feedback path so as to form a nonreciprocal feedback configuration. The beat frequency of the ring laser depends on the parameters of optical components in the nonreciprocal feedback path. As a result, it provides a new method for self-mixing interferometry. We discussed the possibility to use the nonreciprocal feedback to bias the ring laser, which, to our knowledge, is a novel optical biasing method.
© 2012 Optical Society of America
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