self-pulsations

A form of self-pulsation — A transient phenomenon in continuous-wave lasers. As the pump is switched on, the gain in the active medium rises and exceeds the steady-state value. The number of photons in the cavity increases, depleting the gain below the steady-state value, and so on. The laser pulsates; the output power at the peaks can be orders of magnitude larger than that between pulses. The amplitude then gradually reduces and decays.