Steady-state lasing in a system of coupled ring resonators with a shared photorefractive crystal amplifier

An analysis is made of the interaction of lasing in two coupled ring resonators with a shared holographic amplifier made of a photorefractive crystal. Derivation is given of relationships between intracavity losses when lasing occurs simultaneously in two resonators or when it takes place in each of them separately. Competition between lasing waves, important in associative optical memory applications, is discussed.