Naidoo, DarrylAit-Ameur, KLitvin, IFromager, MForbes, A2012-11-202012-11-202012-05Naidoo, D, Ait-Ameur, K, Litvin, I, Fromager, M and Forbes, A. 2012. Observing mode propagation inside a laser cavity. New Journal of Physics, Vol. 14, pp 1-10.1367-2630http://iopscience.iop.org/1367-2630/14/5/053021/pdf/1367-2630_14_5_053021.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10204/6341Copyright: 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. This an ABSTRACT ONLY. The definitive version of the work is published in the New Journal of Physics, Vol. 14, pp 1-10The mode inside a laser cavity may be understood as the interference of two counter-propagating waves, referred to as the forward and backward waves, respectively. We outline a simple experimental procedure, which does not require any additional components, to study the forward and backward propagating waves everywhere inside a laser cavity. We verify the previous theoretical-only prediction that the two fields may differ substantially in their amplitude profile, even for stable resonator systems, a result that has implications for how laser resonators are conceptualized and how the disparate traveling waves interact with nonlinear intra-cavity elements, for example, passive Qswitches and gain media.enPhysicsLaser cavitiesWavesStable resonator systemsArticleNaidoo, D., Ait-Ameur, K., Litvin, I., Fromager, M., & Forbes, A. (2012). Observing mode propagation inside a laser cavity. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/6341Naidoo, Darryl, K Ait-Ameur, I Litvin, M Fromager, and A Forbes "Observing mode propagation inside a laser cavity." (2012) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/6341Naidoo D, Ait-Ameur K, Litvin I, Fromager M, Forbes A. Observing mode propagation inside a laser cavity. 2012; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/6341.TY - Article AU - Naidoo, Darryl AU - Ait-Ameur, K AU - Litvin, I AU - Fromager, M AU - Forbes, A AB - The mode inside a laser cavity may be understood as the interference of two counter-propagating waves, referred to as the forward and backward waves, respectively. We outline a simple experimental procedure, which does not require any additional components, to study the forward and backward propagating waves everywhere inside a laser cavity. We verify the previous theoretical-only prediction that the two fields may differ substantially in their amplitude profile, even for stable resonator systems, a result that has implications for how laser resonators are conceptualized and how the disparate traveling waves interact with nonlinear intra-cavity elements, for example, passive Qswitches and gain media. DA - 2012-05 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Physics KW - Laser cavities KW - Waves KW - Stable resonator systems LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2012 SM - 1367-2630 T1 - Observing mode propagation inside a laser cavity TI - Observing mode propagation inside a laser cavity UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/6341 ER -