SCATTERING MATRIX ANALYSIS OF A TRIANGULAR RING LASER

A method of analysis for ring waveguide lasers is presented. This meth od is based on the use of the scattering matrix formulation to represe nt the waveguide junctions. An extension of previous work is made so t hat any number of junctions may be serially connected. The method is t hen applied to a three-junction triangular ring laser and various oper ating characteristics are calculated, in particular the longitudinal m ode spacing and the power ratio of the counterpropagating waves of the laser. It is found that this ratio is much more sensitive to a differ ence in forward coupling than to backward coupling, but that a differe nce in either will enhance unidirectional operation of the device. Com parison to experimental data is made where possible.