The effect of axial magnetic fields on gas lasers.
An expression is obtained for the intensity of polarized light transmitted through a laser amplifier and linear polarizer, as a function of the strength of an axial magnetic field. The result is compared with an experiment reported by Hotz in which it was claimed that the natural width of the laser transition was measured. The effect of applying a magnetic field parallel to the axis of a laser having plane-parallel windows is also considered. The variation in the frequency of beats between oppositely circularly polarized modes, as a function of magnetic field, is obtained. The result shows that an experiment performed by Culshaw and Kannelaud cannot be interpreted as a level-crossing effect as was previously supposed.
Corney
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Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics of the National Bureau of Standards and the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA.