Abstract

The main features of vibrational SRS in hydrogen and deuterium pumped by laser pulses between 1.5-2.0 μm are low nonlinearity and high diffraction losses caused by a large Stokes wavelength equal to 3-12 μm. This process is complicated by competition with SBS and backward rotational SRS, and optical breakdown at high intensity can be a significant problem. All these above factors lead to a multifold increase of the SRS threshold. As a result, the conversion efficiency of a repetitively pulsed pump mid-IR system of moderate pulse energy of a dozen millijoules is very low.

© 1999 Optical Society of America