The Threshold and Output Power of a Laser

Abstract

In the present chapter the threshold pump power and the output power of a laser will be considered from the point of view of the energy relationships without taking into account the spatial non-uniformity of the active medium, which arises from the discrete nature of the spectrum of the laser. This nonuniformity does not lead to any considerable change in the output power (Chaps. IV and V). Since the nonuniformity of the population inversion tends to vanish as the pump power is reduced to the threshold value, it does not effect the threshold pump power.