Single longitudinal mode oscillation from a multi-interferometric cavity

Abstract

A method to generate stable single longitudinal mode (SLM) radiation from a multi-interferometric cavity configuration that can be considered as the combination of one Michelson cavity and two Fox–Smith cavities is presented. A numerical model of the interferometric cavity is investigated to optimize the laser for mode selection, and experimental verification has been carried out in a tunable TEA ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ laser. Pulse output energy of $300\mathrm{mJ}$ at $10.6\mathrm{\mu m}$ has been obtained at repetition rate of $20\mathrm{Hz}$, corresponding to a repetition of SLM operation of 100%. This result shows that this interferometric cavity gives better performance in mode selection than other cavities based on multibeam interference.

© 2009 Optical Society of America

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