Two-frequency acoustic modulation of the intensity of radiation emitted by solid-state lasers

Internal two-frequency modulation of the intensity of radiation emitted by ruby, neodymium glass, and YAG lasers was achieved by simultaneous excitation of a 5–25 MHz surface acoustic wave on one of the resonator mirrors and longitudinal ultrasonic vibrations of 20–100 kHz frequency of the other mirror. The relationships governing the modulation process were studied as a function of the amplitude and frequency of the acoustic vibrations, parameters of the optical resonator, gain of the active medium, and wavelength of the emitted radiation. Two-frequency modulation of the output intensity produced a new type of lasing kinetics in the form of a regular sequence of pulses with high-frequency internal modulation, and also made it possible to control the intensity, repetition frequency, and time structure of the pulses.