Backreflection-induced oscillations of the intensity of radiation emitted by a single-frequency cw dye ring laser

When a certain critical intensity is exceeded, backreflected signals produced by counterpropagating waves with a definite mutual phase shift give rise to oscillations of the intensity of the radiation emitted by a ring laser with a homogeneously broadened line. Measurements are reported of the critical reflection coefficient and of the dependence of the oscillation frequency on the intensity of backreflected signals in the case of a single-mode cw dye ring laser. The experimental results are in good agreement with theoretical predictions. It follows also from these results that a cw dye ring laser can be used as a tunable source of modulated light with a small band width, a depth of modulation of about 100%, and a modulation frequency variable from a few hundreds of kilohertz to approximately 20 MHz.