Theory of Optical Resonators with Attenuated Total Internal Reflection Prisms Used as Mirrors with Controllable Transmission

摘要

The theory of optical resonators with attenuated total internal reflection prisms used for outcoupling radiation from a resonator is developed. It can be used to predict and describe natural modes of a resonator for an arbitrary surface profile of a perturbing prism. The theory specifies a quantitative relation between geometric parameters of the prism surface and characteristics of an optical resonator, such as the field distribution, mode selection, and mode loss. It describes the mechanism of controlling natural resonator modes by varying the gap between the main prism and the control prisms.