Multi-stability for an extended-cavity diode laser with intracavity atomic absorber

F. DiTeodoro, E. Cerboneschi, D. Hennequin, E. Arimondo

Quantum Semiclass. Opt. 9 867-878 (1997)

Either single-or multi-mode emission from a diode laser coupled to an external cavity containing a cell filled with caesium vapour has been observed. The oscillation frequency of each operating mode of the laser is locked to a hyperfine transition or crossover resonance of the saturated absorption spectrum of the caesium D-2 line. A model based on the rate equations for external-feedback diode lasers, modified in order to include frequency-dependent losses and dispersion of the laser field through the atomic absorber, has been developed. We show that the atomic absorption resonances determine the lasing frequencies. A multi-stable behaviour is obtained.