title: Quantitative test of general theories of the intrinsic laser linewidth.
abstract: We perform a first-principles calculation of the quantum-limited laser linewidth, testing the predictions of recently developed theories of the laser linewidth based on fluctuations about the known steady-state laser solutions against traditional forms of the Schawlow-Townes linewidth. The numerical study is based on finite-difference time-domain simulations of the semiclassical Maxwell-Bloch lasing equations, augmented with Langevin force terms, and includes the effects of dispersion, losses due to the open boundary of the laser cavity, and non-linear coupling between the amplitude and phase fluctuations (α factor). We find quantitative agreement between the numerical results and the predictions of the noisy steady-state ab initio laser theory (N-SALT), both in the variation of the linewidth with output power, as well as the emergence of side-peaks due to relaxation oscillations.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cerjan
authors.forename: Adi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pick
authors.forename: Y D
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.forename: Steven G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Douglas Stone