Abstract

Optical resonators, usually in the form of spherical-mirror interferometers, are employed in a wide variety of experiments, including studies of steady-state and dynamic behavior in lasers and optical bistability. To make meaningful comparisons between experiment and theory, a resonator must be characterized in terms of its losses; that is, the behavior of the empty, or linear, resonator must be well understood if one wishes to understand the behavior of the filled, nonlinear resonator. In general, however, it is not possible to characterize an optical cavity in terms of a single loss parameter. Doing so results, for example, in a different state equation for optical bistability.

© 1990 Optical Society of America