Utilizing the electro-optic effect to modulate the losses or the Q-factor of the cavity to achieve high energy and short pulses. The EO cell is inserted inside the cavity and keeps high losses which prevent lasing. By continuously pumping the gain medium the stored energy accumulates. At this point, by electric triggering, the EO cell is opened, thus reducing the losses substantially below the lasing threshold, allowing lasing inside the resonator and emitting the accumulated energy.
The pulse length is in the order of nanoseconds and corresponds to many round trips inside the resonator.
