Controlling mode competition by tailoring the spatial pump distribution   in a laser: A resonance-based approach
  We introduce a simplified version of the steady-state ab initio laser theory for calculating the effects of mode competition in continuous wave lasers using the passive cavity resonances. This new theory harnesses widely available numerical methods that can efficiently calculate the passive cavity resonances, with negligible additional computational overhead. Using this theory, we demonstrate that the pump profile of the laser cavity can be optimized both for highly multi-mode and single-mode emission. An open source implementation of this method has been made available. 
Alexander Cerjan, Brandon Redding, Li Ge, Seng Fatt Liew, Hui Cao, A.   Douglas Stone
physics.optics