Inhomogeneous Saturation
Author: the photonics expert Dr. Rüdiger Paschotta (RP)
Definition: gain saturation effects which alter the shape of the gain spectrum
Category: 
DOI: 10.61835/014 Cite the article: BibTex plain textHTML Link to this page LinkedIn
When a gain medium amplifies a strong laser beam, the laser gain is saturated, i.e. reduced to some extent (→ gain saturation). Under certain circumstances, the saturation can be inhomogeneous, i.e. it can be stronger around the wavelength of the laser beam than at other wavelengths, as illustrated in Figure 1.
A laser at 1064 nm saturates the gain around 1064 nm more than the gain at other wavelengths. For comparison, the unsaturated gain (without laser power) is shown as a dotted curve.
Inhomogeneous saturation characteristics are related to inhomogeneous broadening and can arise when different laser ions in the gain medium can occupy different lattice sites (assuming a solid-state medium). This is particularly the case in glasses. However, some glasses exhibit nearly homogeneous gain saturation despite the great variety of lattice sites. This is the case for, e.g., neodymium-doped phosphate glasses, whereas silicate glasses show strongly inhomogeneous saturation.
Spatial hole burning in linear laser resonators can also lead to inhomogeneous saturation. In that case, laser ions at different locations in the gain medium “see” different wavelengths with different intensities because the period of the standing-wave pattern depends on the wavelength.
In a laser, inhomogeneous saturation characteristics can influence the optical spectrum of the laser output and restrict the wavelength tuning range. For a mode-locked laser, this effect can make it easier to obtain short pulses, but can also adversely affect the self-starting characteristics.
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2022-05-27
Is the dip in Fig. 1 in the gain resulting from the same effect as Lamb's dip?
The author's answer:
It is somewhat similar. In an inhomogeneously broadened laser gain medium, saturation caused by narrowband light selects certain laser ions, while in Lamb's saturation spectroscopy some set of atoms or molecules are selected according to their velocity in a certain direction.