Influence of the interaction between the radiation and the reflector material on the characteristics of a ring laser

An investigation was made of transient processes in a ring laser leaving the locking band. It was shown that these phenomena were associated with the action of a standing wave on the resonator mirrors, forming a periodic structure on the mirror surface which produced additional coupling between the opposite waves. An approximate model was developed for the fonnation of this structure. Experiments were carried out which essentially supported the proposed model.