Abstract

We have used a flashlamp-initiated HF pulsed chemical laser (PCL) to demonstrate stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in high-pressure xenon gas. It is expected that the SBS reflected light will be the phase conjugate of the input laser beam. SBS in the IR is hampered by a long phonon buildup time, narrow gain widths, competing nonlinear phenomena such as self-focusing, and a scarcity of nonabsorbing high-gain media. This is the first demonstration of SBS in the 3-μm spectral region and is more than a factor of 2 deeper into the IR than has previously been reported in gaseous media.

© 1986 Optical Society of America