Abstract

A comparison is made of near- and far-field radiation patterns for two different ruby laser crystals of known and differing optical quality. It is shown that ring-width in far-field patterns is directly related to optical quality as measured using a Twyman-Green interferometer. Near-field patterns of the higher quality crystal (λ/10) that were observed using high-speed photographic equipment always appeared to be transverse modes of a cylindrical resonator whereas this was not true for the poorer quality crystal (λ/4). An approximate mode sequence during firing of the λ/10 laser rod shows a reproducible mode development (in time). A sudden switching to higher-order modes was observed and several factors are suggested which could explain this.

© 1963 Optical Society of America

Interference Rings in Ruby Maser Beams

B. P. Stoicheff and A. Szabo
Appl. Opt. 2(8) 811-815 (1963)

A Study of Transverse Modes of Ruby Lasers Using Beat-Frequency Detection and Fast Photography

C. Martin Stickley
Appl. Opt. 3(8) 967-979 (1964)

Relationship between the Near Field Characteristics of a Ruby Laser and Its Optical Quality

Michael Hercher
Appl. Opt. 1(5) 665-670 (1962)

Hole-Burning Model of Oscillation of Ruby Laser

A. J. DeMaria and R. Gagosz
Appl. Opt. 2(8) 807-810 (1963)

Investigation of Ruby Optical Maser Characteristics Using Microwave Phototubes

B. J. McMurtry
Appl. Opt. 2(8) 767-786 (1963)