Abstract

We analyze experimentally, numerically and analytically the slow passage through resonance in a periodically modulated YAG laser as the modulation frequency slowly passes through the relaxation oscillations frequency of the laser. We find hysteresis of the forward and backward slowly varying steady states as the modulation amplitude surpasses a critical value. The figure represents the two limits points of the hysteresis loop as a function of the modulation amplitude. The full lines are determined from an asymptotic analysis of the class B laser equations for the electrical field E and the inversion of population F.

© 1996 IEEE