Saturation effect in a laser at steady state

Abstract

The saturation properties of a single-mode laser are fully taken into account. The analytic expressions of the mean, variance, and skewness of the steady-state laser intensity are calculated. Compared with third-order laser theory and with experimental measurements, good agreement is obtained on the variance of the intensity, but noticeable deviations occur in the mean and skewness when the laser is operated far above threshold.