Abstract

We have investigated some of the effects of backscattering on the behavior of a He-Ne ring laser both theoretically and experimentally, if R₁, R₂ are the complex backscattering coefficients, we find that the steady-state solution of the laser equations of motion depends only on the combination $R_1+R_2^{*}$. When the phases are such that $R_2^{*}=-R_1$, the laser behaves with respect to all time independent properties as if there were no back scattering. This has been confirmed by experiments. When backscattering does play a role, its effect is often equivalent to incrementing each pump parameter by $\mathrm{½}\left|R_1+R_2^{*}\right|$.

© 1986 Optical Society of America