COMPARISON OF TRANSIENT EMISSION OF A NH3 RING LASER WITH THE LORENZ-HAKEN MODEL

Measurements are reported of the transient responses of a (NH3)-N-15 F IR ring laser to sudden changes in pump power above, near and well bel ow the threshold for Lorenz-like chaos. Qualitative agreement with the predictions of the Lorenz-Haken equations is found except for effects which can be attributed to the over-simplification of the Lorenz-Hake n model with respect to the real laser system. Quantitatively, the tra nsient laser response permits determination of effective values for th e decay constants of the active medium within the framework of the Lor enz-Haken model.