Gas-flow-induced controlled unidirectional operation of a CO(2) ring laser.
It is shown experimentally and theoretically that axial gas flow leads to controlled unidirectional operation of a CO(2) ring laser. The direction of emission, clockwise or counterclockwise, can be selected by a slight tuning of the laser cavity (~1% of the free spectral range). The flow velocity required for complete mode extinction depends on the relative magnitudes of the Doppler and homogeneous line widths and is ~10 m/sec when the two are comparable.
Boulnois
J L
JL
Bret
G
G
Cottin
P
P
Van Lerberghe
A
A
Agrawal
G P
GP