Investigation of the properties of an unstable resonator using a dihedral corner reflector in a continuous-flow cw CO₂laser

Petal-like modes in Porro prism resonators

“…This property was initially exploited in Michelson interferometers to relax the tolerances on misalignment, and then proposed in 1962 by Gould et al [1] as a means to overcome misalignment problems in optical resonators employing Fabry-Perot cavities by replacing the end face mirrors with crossed roof prisms. Lasers based on this principle have been developed over the years [2][3][4][5][6] with a review of the basic concepts and literature for Porro prisms specifically found in [7]. Much of the theoretical work to date has focused on geometric methods to model the inverting properties of such resonators [2][3][4] and polarization considerations to account for internal phase shifts and output polarization states [6,7].…”

Modeling laser brightness from cross Porro prism resonators

“…This property was initially exploited in Michelson interferometers to relax the tolerances on mis-alignment, and then proposed in 1962 by Gould et al 1 as a means to overcome misalignment problems in optical resonators employing Fabry-Perot cavities, by replacing the end face mirrors with crossed roof prisms. Lasers based on this principle have been developed over the years [2][3][4][5][6] with a review of the basic concepts and literature for Porro prisms specifically found in [7]. Much of the theoretical work to date has focused on geometric methods to model the inverting properties of such resonators [2][3][4] and polarization considerations to account for internal phase shifts and output polarization states 6,7 .…”