TRANSVERSE-MODE LOCKING, ANTILOCKING AND SELF-INDUCED DYNAMICS OF CLASS-B LASERS

The interaction of transverse modes in lasers is investigated. Modes w ith helical fields show no locking while non-helical modes lock in cla ss-A lasers. Generally in class-B lasers there is a tendency for mutua l repulsion of the mode frequencies, which reduces the locking range o f non-helical modes, and leads to qualitatively new phenomena, such as self-induced dynamical behavior, and bistability of dynamical regimes . This self-induced dynamics is related to the ''vortex unrest'' recen tly shown. It may lead to zero point oscillations of optical vortex cr ystals and to a new kind of optical turbulence.