DYNAMICS OF AN OPTICAL-RESONATOR DETERMINED BY ITS ITERATIVE MAP OF BEAM PARAMETERS

We use the residue of the map to study the stability and Gaussian beam dynamics of a general optical resonator. The map is constructed from space domain matrix formalism. For a lossless system we find that the residue is a function of resonator g-parameters' product and new criti cal stable curves exist within the geometrically stable regions. The d ynamic behavior of a dissipative resonator with loss optical element i s similar to a damping oscillatory motion and can be determined by the corresponding conservative resonator without those loss elements. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.