Influence of the relaxation time of a passive switch on the duration of ultrashort pulses emitted by a neodymium-glass laser
An experimental investigation was made of the duration of ultrashort pulses emitted by a neodymium-glass ring laser when two dyes with very different relaxation times were used as a passive switch. Measurements were carried out using a very fast shutter based on the optical Kerr effect. The distributions of the probabilities of appearance of pulses of different duration were determined. The results were in agreement with the conclusions deduced from the theory of the fluctuation origin of ultrashort pulses.