β factor in a random laser

Gijs Van Soest, Ad Lagendijk*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

46 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We develop a definition for the β factor, the fraction of spontaneous emission that seeds the laser process, for a random laser. With the wavelength-dependence of the gain (and potentially scattering) being the only possible criterion in the competition between gain and loss, our concept of β is based on the spectral properties of the spontaneous emission and laser light We find β≈0.1. We discuss the apparent similarities and differences between the β for a cavity and a random laser.

Original languageEnglish
Article number047601
JournalPhysical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
Volume65
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 18 Mar 2002
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

©2002 American Physical Society

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