Session H42 - Undergraduate Student Poster Session.
POSTER session, Tuesday evening, March 18
Exhibit Hall D, Conv. Center
The inclusion of azimuthally symmetric transverse field behavior in models of laser cavities introduces Gauss-Laguerre transverse modes. Since these modes are typically more closely spaced than the customary longitudinal modes, the intermode competition is more dynamic and can cause excessive laser instability. The Huygen-Fresnel diffraction integral is used to calculate the propagation of the electromagnetic field around the ring cavity. The customary method of accounting for the propagation of the electromagnetic field through the nonlinear material is to average the field over the length of the medium (mean field approximation). This method is predicated on the assumption that the field envelope does not vary along the material. A model that eliminates the method of the mean field approximation will be presented. It includes a technique for numerically integrating the Maxwell-Bloch equations over the nonlinear medium without adding undue computational time. Results illustrating the effects of this model will also be presented.