title: Gas-flow-induced controlled unidirectional operation of a CO(2) ring laser.
abstract: 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.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Boulnois
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bret
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cottin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Van Lerberghe
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Agrawal