Abstract

By using both an operator and a geometric argument, we obtain a wave description of geometric modes of a degenerate optical resonator. This is done by considering the propagation of a displaced Gaussian beam inside the resonator. The round-trip Gouy phase, which is independent of the wavelength of the light, determines the properties of the Gaussian eigenmode. The extra freedom in the case of degeneracy allows for the existence of geometric modes.

© 2005 Optical Society of America

Spectrum of an optical resonator with spherical aberration

Jorrit Visser and Gerard Nienhuis
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 22(11) 2490-2497 (2005)

Bessel–Gauss resonator with spherical output mirror: geometrical- and wave-optics analysis

Julio C. Gutiérrez-Vega, Rodolfo Rodrı́guez-Masegosa, and Sabino Chávez-Cerda
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 20(11) 2113-2122 (2003)

Theory of the unstable Bessel resonator

Raúl I. Hernández-Aranda, Sabino Chávez-Cerda, and Julio C. Gutiérrez-Vega
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 22(9) 1909-1917 (2005)

Why are the eigenmodes of stable laser resonators structurally stable?

Alan Forrester, Margareta Lönnqvist, Miles J. Padgett, and Johannes Courtial
Opt. Lett. 27(21) 1869-1871 (2002)

Ince–Gaussian modes of the paraxial wave equation and stable resonators

Miguel A. Bandres and Julio C. Gutiérrez-Vega
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 21(5) 873-880 (2004)