Laser dynamics with excited-state absorption

The dynamics of a laser with excited-state absorption at the lasing wavelength is theoretically studied. The model is based on the rate equations for a four-level system. The stationary state is analytically calculated, permitting both the investigation of the laser characteristics and linear stability analysis. The latter shows that, in some conditions, the steady state is not stable in a particular range of pumping rates. However, a stable solution is restored for sufficiently high pumping rates. Stable self-pulsing solutions are obtained by numerical integration of the coupled equations. Also, the transient regimes are numerically analyzed. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.