Asymmetry of operation and energy trapping in a superradiant laser

Abstract

On working beyond the slowly varying envelope approximation, the instability of superfluorescent decay is investigated for the case in which the sample size is greater than or comparable to the resonant wavelength. The instability is associated with coupling between counterpropagating waves and can inhibit emission in the direction of the pump pulse. In particular, it is shown that tiny changes of the sample length can cause the forward emission to be switched off, suggesting that the optical analog of a directing antenna may be experimentally accessible.

Physical Review Letters (1996) Vol.77(5) pp.842-845

doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.842