Gain characteristics of stimulated Brillouin scattering in fused silica

Abstract

Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) is a non-linear process which has the capacity to improve the beam quality and pulse characteristics of laser beams. In this paper, we theoretically and experimentally study the process of SBS in fused silica. In particular, we examine the energy reflection and pulse compression of input laser pulses as functions of focus position, pump energy and beam diameter. We utilized coupled wave equations and a distributed noise model to simulate the reflected energy and time waveform under different gain parameters. An experimental system is constructed and used to qualify the numerical simulations. The results reveal that the threshold for the SBS process and the energy reflectivity significantly change with laser focus position under the same pump and focusing parameters. Ultimately, the gain characteristics of the SBS material is the primary factor that influences the SBS output. This work presented here offers insight into the operation of short-length solid-state SBS lasers and serves as a basis for the design and optimization of such systems.