We review our recent work leading to steady-state solutions of the semiclassical (Maxwell–Bloch) equations of a laser. These are coupled nonlinear partial differential equations in space and time which have previously been solved either by fully time-dependent numerical simulations or by using major approximations which neglect nonlinear modal interactions and/or the openness of the laser system. We have found a time-independent technique for determining these stationary solutions which can treat lasers of arbitrary complexity and degree of openness. Our method has been shown to agree with time-dependent numerical solutions to high accuracy and has been applied to find the electric field patterns (lasing modes) of random lasers, which lack a laser cavity and are so strongly damped that the linear system has no detectable resonances. Our work provides a link between an important nonlinear wave system and the field of quantum/wave chaos in linear systems.

Application of the ab-initio self-consistent (AISC) laser theory to multi-mode chaotic and random lasing media is presented. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America

The National Science Digital Library (NSDL) Materials Digital Library Pathway (MatDL) has implemented an information infrastructure to disseminate government funded research results and to provide content as well as services to support the integration of research and education in materials. This paper describes how we are enabling two-way communication between a digital repository and open-source collaborative tools, such as wikis, to support users in materials research and education in the creation and re-use of compelling learning resources. A search results plug-in for MediaWiki has been developed to display relevant search results from the Fedora-based MatDL repository in the Soft Matter Wiki established and developed by MatDL and its partners. Wiki-to-repository information transfer has also been facilitated by mapping the metadata associated with resources originating in the wiki onto Dublin Core (DC) metadata elements and making the metadata and resources available in the repository.

We generalize and test the recent "ab initio" self-consistent (AISC) time-independent semiclassical laser theory. This self-consistent formalism generates all the stationary lasing properties in the multimode regime (frequencies, thresholds, internal and external fields, output power and emission pattern) from simple inputs: the dielectric function of the passive cavity, the atomic transition frequency, and the transverse relaxation time of the lasing transition.We find that the theory gives excellent quantitative agreement with full time-dependent simulations of the Maxwell-Bloch equations after it has been generalized to drop the slowly-varying envelope approximation. The theory is infinite order in the non-linear hole-burning interaction; the widely used third order approximation is shown to fail badly.

Get PDF Email Share Share with Facebook Tweet This Post on reddit Share with LinkedIn Add to CiteULike Add to Mendeley Add to BibSonomy Get Citation Copy Citation Text R. J. Tandy, L. Ge, and A. D. Stone, "Comparison of Ab Initio Laser Theory With Exact Simulation," in Frontiers in Optics 2008/Laser Science XXIV/Plasmonics and Metamaterials/Optical Fabrication and Testing, OSA Technical Digest (CD) (Optica Publishing Group, 2008), paper FTuI2. Export Citation BibTex Endnote (RIS) HTML Plain Text Citation alert Save article

The National Science Digital Library (NSDL) Materials Digital Library Pathway (MatDL) has implemented an information infrastructure to disseminate government funded research results and to provide content as well as services to support the integration of research and education in materials. This poster describes how we are integrating a digital repository into open-source collaborative tools, such as wikis, to support users in materials research and education as well as interactions between the two areas. A search results plug-in for MediaWiki has been developed to display relevant search results from the MatDL repository in the Soft Matter Wiki established and developed by MatDL and its partners. Collaborative work with the NSDL Core Integration team at Cornell University is also in progress to enable information transfer in the opposite direction, from a wiki to a repository.