Non-linear stimulated Raman back-scattering burst driven by a broadband laser

A new evolution pattern for broadband laser excited stimulated Raman back-scattering (BSRS) in the kinetic regime is proposed by numerical simulations. It is found that the change of coherence of different frequency beamlets will cause the fluctuation of laser intensity, generating an ensemble of random intensity pulses and leading to an intermittent excitation of BSRS. The kinetic inflation and intense amplification of scattered light are observed due to the synergism between these pulses, which cause a burst of instantaneous reflectivity. The synergistic effect is highly bandwidth-dependent. Under the bandwidth similar to the existing broadband laser facilities, these bursts will generate over-expected scattered light and hot electrons. Fortunately, a large bandwidth laser can still inactivate the synergy mechanism and mitigate the scattering effectively. We formulated a theoretical model to predict the inactivate point, and the calculation delta omega/omega(0) = 2.57 % is in good agreement with the numerical results. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

Automated summary

A new evolution pattern for broadband laser excited stimulated Raman back-scattering (BSRS) in the kinetic regime is proposed by numerical simulations. It is found that the change of coherence of different frequency beamlets will cause the fluctuation of laser intensity, generating an ensemble of random intensity pulses and leading to an intermittent excitation of BSRS. The kinetic inflation and intense amplification of scattered light are observed due to the synergism between these pulses, which cause a burst of instantaneous reflectivity.