Stochasticity and regular fluctuations in a Q-switched laser

In a Q-switched YAG:Nd³⁺ laser utilizing a three-mirror resonator a reproducible structure of regular fluctuations was obtained with a period corresponding to the reciprocal of the width of the lasing spectrum. When the optical lengths of the partial resonators were not submultiples of the total length, random intensity fluctuations over the entire duration of the giant lasing pulse were observed.