Steady State and Stability Properties of a Multimode Inhomogeneously Broadened Laser

We analyze the multiple steady states of a multimode inhomogeneously broadened ring laser and their linear stability. From these results, we predict hysteresis and pulsations for appropriate control parameters. The effects of the inhomogeneous broadening on the unstable behavior of single-mode lasers have been documented extensively, both theoretically and experimentally1. Only limited attention, however, has been paid to the multimode extension of this problem2, in spite of the fact that the earliest multimode analysis for a homogeneously broadened ring laser appeared more than 15 years ago3.