Within the last few years there has been a revival of interest in the dynamical behavior of laser oscillators. From a purely scientific standpoint, some fundamental laser transient phenomena which were once known only to theoreticians are now observable in the laboratory. From a more practical point of view, many lasers of great commercial utility are found to exhibit pulsations of known or unknown origin, and for applications such effects may be either detrimental or highly useful. The general purpose of this research is to search out additional spontaneously pulsing lasers and to seek a better understanding of those that are already known. This research includes both experimental and theoretical studies to extend the present state of knowledge concerning such lasers. Of special interest is a recently recognized laser instability which causes deep modulation pulsations at MHz rates in single-mode xenon lasers. This instability is believed to be responsible for important transient effects in helium-neon lasers and probably other lasers as well.
