title: Effects of including a diffraction term into Rigrod theory for a continuous-wave laser.
abstract: Multimode, low-gain continuous-wave lasers are often subject to having intracavity apertures that create diffractive losses inside the optical resonator. For very low-gain systems with short gain lengths, highly reflective mirrors are required to obtain laser oscillation. The Rigrod theory was modified to include a diffractive loss term and comparisons with experimental data show that the intracavity diffractive losses, while small in magnitude, can play a significant role for these low-gain cases with high mirror reflectivities.
authors.affiliation: CU Aerospace, 2100 S. Oak Street, Suite 206, Champaign, Illinois 61820, USA. carroll@cuaerospace.com
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Carroll
authors.forename: Joseph T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Verdeyen