Abstract

Coherent-pulse amplification in an inverted laser medium was first studied analytically by Arecchi and Bonifacio,¹ who discovered the steady-state π-pulse solution (SSP) for a homogeneously broadened amplifier with linear loss and a pulse duration smaller than the polarization relaxation time T₂. In high-power-amplification experiments ionization of the neutral particles in the amplifier can take place due to the heating of free electrons by the laser pulse. The ionization-produced plasma contributes to the medium's nonlinear polarization, depending on the instantaneous pulse energy, and this leads to a considerable change in the properties of the pulse.

© 1995 Optical Society of America