Generation and Modulation of Phase Difference of Output Intensities in a Feedback Nd:YAG Laser with an Extracavity Waveplate Rotated

External anisotropic feedback effects on the phase difference behaviour of output intensities in a microchip Nd:YAG laser are presented. By rotating a quarter wave plate placed in the external cavity, the angle between laser initial polarization direction and o-axis of the wave plate is tuned from -45° to 45°, which results in variable extra-cavity birefringence along two orthogonal detection directions. With only one optical path and one wave plate, laser intensities of the two orthogonal directions, both modulated by the external cavity length, are output with a tunable phase difference, which can be continuously changed from zero to twice as large as that of the waveplate. Experimental results as well as a theoretical analysis based on Fabry--Perot cavity equivalent model and the refractive index ellipsoid, are presented. The potential applications of this phenomenon are also discussed.