Reflective high-finesse interferometers as effective intrapulse laser frequency stabilizers

Area of Science:

• Laser Physics
• Optical Engineering

Background:

• Laser cavities are susceptible to frequency variations due to optical cavity length perturbations.
• Intrapulse frequency chirping affects the stability and precision of laser outputs.
• Reflective multipass interferometers are used in laser cavity designs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of optical cavity length perturbations on laser intrapulse frequency stability.
• To explore the use of reflective multipass interferometers for enhancing frequency stability.
• To provide insights for designing single-mode lasers with reduced chirping.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical analysis of optical cavity length perturbations.
• Experimental investigation using a long-pulse single-mode TEA CO(2) laser.
• Employing relatively long, high-finesse interferometers as cavity terminations.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated that intrapulse frequency chirping can be significantly reduced.
• Confirmed the effectiveness of long, high-finesse interferometers in stabilizing laser frequency.
• Established a correlation between interferometer length/finesse and chirping reduction.

Conclusions:

• Long, high-finesse interferometers are effective in mitigating intrapulse frequency chirping.
• The findings are applicable to the design of stable, single-mode lasers.
• This research contributes to the development of lasers with negligible frequency instability.