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Modes Of A Laser Resonator With A Retroreflecting Corner Cube Mirror, Guosheng Zhou, Anthony J. Alfrey, Lee W. Casperson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The self-consistent integral equation for the field distribution of the resonant modes in a resonator with a tilted retroreflecting corner cube mirror is solved. The corner cube acts like a convex lens with radius of curvature -L cot²Ө in the rotation direction (L is the cavity length and Ө the rotation angle) and like a flat plane in the direction of the rotation axis. The field distribution can be described in terms of Hermite-Gaussian functions, and these results have been confirmed experimentally using an Ar-ion laser. The equivalent beam matrix for a reflecting corner cube is also found.