Abstract
The influence of the off-axis unstable resonator alignment on the temporally evolving far-field intensity profile from a copper vapour laser is investigated. For optimum output power, the moderate divergence (four-pass) component produces an annular far-field intensity profile corresponding to an image of the spontaneous emission seed source. By adjusting the resonator alignment, one side of the annular image may be vignetted due to the resonator geometry resulting in a crescent-shaped far-field profile with significantly lower beam divergence and only a small (5%) reduction in output power.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 283-291 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Optics Communications |
| Volume | 113 |
| Issue number | 1-3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 15 Dec 1994 |