18
votes
Accepted
In what sense the laser radiation is monochromatic?
Lasers are monochromatic in the sense that they produce a narrow range of frequencies.
The difference between a laser and an ordinary light is the optical cavity. Cavity design is complex. For some ...
- 31.1k
12
votes
On the (non)linearity of electromagnetism
Maxwell equations are linear... but they are also incomplete - they involve sources (i.e., currents and charges) that cannot be determined from these equations. To really solve Maxwell equations these ...
- 52.1k
10
votes
On the (non)linearity of electromagnetism
Very strong fields lead to vacuum-polarization, i.e. they "create" matter (at the very least electron-positron pairs). Even well before the creation of "real" particles there will ...
- 1,198
10
votes
In what sense the laser radiation is monochromatic?
One can consider a given laser as a device consisting of three elements: a gain medium, a pump, and a cavity. The laser cavity acts as a frequency (color) selection element. The only light that is ...
- 511
8
votes
Why do we cool atoms with laser light opposed to normal light
Doppler shift is not a problem, but the essential element in laser cooling mechanism: the laser frequency is chosen in such a way that it is just below the Doppler shifter natural frequency of the ...
- 52.1k
5
votes
How many cavity round trips typically occur inside laser resonators?
I'll try to address the direct question asked in the title of this question:
"How many cavity round trips typically occur inside laser resonators?"
The cavity finesse roughly captures the ...
- 11.9k
3
votes
What are the mechanism of generation of mode-locked pulsed laser?
At the beginning you say:
The key mechanism of mode-locking is the generation of multi-frequencies in the cavity.
If I got your thought correctly, then it is not true. The mode-locking is used to ...
- 511
3
votes
What happens to laser power when resonator cavity length increased?
You've left out a lot of details, like the overall cavity design, how the beam is confined, etc.
But think of it this way: Assuming the pump power stays constant, it must contribute to either laser ...
- 24.7k
1
vote
Accepted
Is this an accidental interference pattern?
Yes, this is a sort of interference pattern called a diffraction pattern. Most likely it is caused by the aperture of your laser level.
- 6,295
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