Polarization switching in a microchip Nd:YAG laser using polarized feedback

Abstract
Lasers that are almost optically isotropic may operate on more than one polarization mode. Here we report on the polarization states of microchip YAG lasers, their control by polarized feedback, and the dynamics of the polarization flips. Switching and polarization relaxation oscillations are observed, both of which are much faster than the inverse of the population decay rate.