Mode Control in Ruby Optical Masers by Means of Elastic Deformation

Abstract

A new technique has been applied in experimental work on ruby optical masers with dramatic results. The techniques involved elastically deforming the medium and thereby invoking the stress-optic effect. Strikingly, it permitted optimizing the elastic deformation of any particular ruby specimen to reduce significantly its pumping-energy requirements for the onset of maser oscillations. At the same time, the divergence of the emergent beam could be reduced by a sizable fraction to that characteristic of low-order radiation modes.