FABRY-PEROT AND RING CAVITY CONFIGURATIONS AND TRANSVERSE OPTICAL-PATTERNS

The properties of travelling- and standing-wave resonators and their i nfluence on the modal composition and propagation of transverse patter ns are analysed and a prescription for constructing a travelling-wave resonator 'equivalent' to a standing-wave resonator is given. It is sh own that the presence of an intracavity nonlinear medium invalidates t he equivalence between the two kinds of cavity, even when the interfer ence between the counterpropagating waves can be neglected. Therefore great care has to be taken when comparing experimental and theoretical results obtained in different types of cavity, since in general their properties differ. Some implications concerning the appearance of pha se singularities in the two kinds of resonator are discussed.