Investigation of a microsecond pulse laser

A study was made of the influence of the strength of an electro-optic negative feedback, delay of the feedback signal, resonator configuration, pump energy, and the resonator Q-switching law on the stability and shape of microsecond pulses emitted by a ruby laser. It was found experimentally that the most stable microsecond pulses with a smooth top were formed by a laser with a semiconcentric resonator and the largest number of transverse oscillation modes. In this resonator the delay of the feedback signal and the mode beats, which would have resulted in a jagged pulse top, had little influence. A suitable selection of the pump parameters, feedback, and resonator Q-switching law made it possible to obtain different shapes of radiation pulses with durations from 100 nsec to several microseconds.