Self-initiation of ultrashort pulse generation in cw-pumped solid-state lasers with an additional resonator

A numerical analysis was made of the dynamics of self-initiation of ultrashort pulse generation in mode-locked cw solid-state lasers using an additional resonator. It was postulated that phase self-modulation occurred either in the main or in the additional resonators. It was shown that stable trains of ultrashort pulses may be formed from the spontaneous noise in limited ranges of values of the laser parameters. It was demonstrated how these regions are transformed in the pump intensity-coupling parameter plane, as a function of the phase self-modulation parameter, of the width of the spectral filter, and of the lasing transition cross section of the active medium.