Light Diffraction Studies of CdS Phonon Masers: Off-Axis Cavity Structures

Abstract

Light diffraction experiments on CdS phonon masers whose cavity normal is oriented at 15, 30, 45, 60, and 75° to the crystallographic c axis are presented and compared with theory. It is shown that in general the acoustic waves do not propagate along the direction of the cavity normal. An interpretation of the observations requires that one takes into account the acoustic anisotropy and the effect of mode conversion at the cavity walls.