SPONTANEOUS COHERENT PULSATIONS IN RING-LASER OSCILLATORS

Complex spontaneous-pulsation phenomena have been reported in xenon lasers operating at 3. 51- mu m wavelength, and a theoretical explantaion for these effects has been given. However, the published models contain various simplifications and have so far yielded only qualitative agreement with xenon-laser experiments. Reported here is a more rigorous analytical model, which for the first time provides quantitative agreement with experimental observations. This model should also find direct application in interpreting or predicting the behavior of other spontaneously pulsing laser systems.