Spontaneous pulsation phenomena in xenon lasers are now well known, and related effects have been observed with other laser types. Most theoretical analyses of such pulsations are formulated for unidirectional ring lasers, whereas most experiments involve standing-wave resonator geometries. Described here are rigorous semiclassical models governing the spontaneous pulsation instability in standing-wave laser oscillators. The standing-wave results are more complex and closer to experimental

more »

... vations than the ring results for operation in the Lambdip region near line center.