If a medium with an absorption constant that increases with light intensity is placed within a laser interferometer, then fluctuations in the power output of the laser can be decreased. In this manner the typical spiking behavior of a pulsed, solid‐state laser can be essentially reduced to a constant output power as a function of time. A material that has the desired property is one that is Rayleigh active, for once threshold is reached for the stimulated Rayleigh effect the absorption at the pump frequency increases with intensity. The threshold for the stimulated Rayleigh effect is low because most of the gain is provided by the laser medium. Spike suppression has been achieved for a pulsed ruby laser by placing a cell containing benzene within the laser interferometer.