IMPROVEMENT OF COUPLED-CAVITY MODE-LOCKING OF CONTINUOUS-WAVE SOLID-STATE LASERS BY A RESONANT NONLINEARITY

An increase in the efficiency of mode locking achieved with a saturable absorber in the master on an additional cavity is demonstrated on the basis of the fluctuation model of coupled-cavity mode-locked cw solid-state lasers. The increase consists in the broadening of the laser parameter range for which the mode locking occurs, the essential decreasing of the threshold pump intensity, and the reduction of the regime's sensitivity to phase mismatches of the cavity lengths. The generation of stable pulse trains with a double repetition frequency and coupled-cavity mode locking in the case of the phase mismatch of the cavity lengths and the absence of self-phase modulation in the master cavity are shown to be possible in the system with the absorber in the additional cavity.