Self-starting of passive mode locking

It has been recently understood that mode locking of lasers has the signification of a thermodynamic phase transition in a system of many interacting light modes subject to noise. In the same framework, self starting of passive mode locking has the thermodynamic significance of a noise-activated esc...

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Published inOptics express Vol. 14; no. 23; p. 11142
Main Authors Gordon, Ariel, Gat, Omri, Fischer, Baruch, Kärtner, Franz X.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 13.11.2006
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Summary:It has been recently understood that mode locking of lasers has the signification of a thermodynamic phase transition in a system of many interacting light modes subject to noise. In the same framework, self starting of passive mode locking has the thermodynamic significance of a noise-activated escape process across an entropic barrier. Here we present the first dynamical study of the light mode system. While accordant with the predictions of some earlier theories, it is the first to give precise quantitative predictions for the distribution of self-start times, in closed form expressions, resolving the long standing self starting problem. Numerical simulations corroborate these results, which are also in good agreement with experiments.
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ISSN:1094-4087
1094-4087
DOI:10.1364/OE.14.011142