Mode-hopping noise and emission stability of monolithic solid-state ring lasers

An experimental investigation was made of the amplitude noise of the radiation emitted by a monolithic solid-state (YAG:Nd³⁺) ring laser operating under various conditions when its temperature was varied in a wide range. The results showed that one of the important sources of the emission instability was chaotic modulation of the radiation amplitude due to the competitive interactions between different lasing modes. Conditions needed to ensure stable self-modulation operation of a monolithic solid-state laser were determined.