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Updated: Jul 9, 2026
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The Generation of Higher-order Laguerre-Gauss Optical Beams for High-precision Interferometry
Published on: August 12, 2013
Summary
Tilting mirrors in optical laser cavities can significantly increase excess noise, especially in loss-guided lasers near instability. This amplified noise arises from beam walk-off, impacting laser performance.
Area of Science:
- Optics and Photonics
- Laser Physics
Background:
- Optical laser cavities are fundamental to laser operation.
- Noise in laser cavities can degrade performance.
- Transverse effects in lasers are crucial for beam quality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To theoretically investigate the enhancement of the transverse excess-noise factor in optical laser cavities.
- To analyze the impact of tilted end mirrors and nonuniform transverse loss on laser noise.
- To explore the conditions leading to significant noise amplification.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical modeling of optical laser cavities.
- Analysis of systems with tilted end mirrors.
- Investigation of lasers with nonuniform transverse loss.
- Focus on loss-guided lasers near the plane-plane geometric instability boundary.
Main Results:
- Theoretical prediction of enhanced transverse excess-noise factor.
- Demonstration that mirror tilting can largely exceed noise predicted for aligned cavities.
- Identification of beam walk-off induced by mirror tilting as the cause of excess noise.
- Explanation of transient amplification of noise in the transverse plane.
Conclusions:
- Tilted mirrors and nonuniform loss significantly enhance the transverse excess-noise factor in optical lasers.
- Loss-guided lasers near instability are particularly susceptible to this noise enhancement.
- Beam walk-off is the primary mechanism for this excess noise generation.
