Saturation of Brillouin Backscatter

The saturation of stimulated Brillouin backscattering in an underdense plasma target is investigated. A 30-J, 300 MW pulsed CO2 laser system was used to irradiate an arc discharge in H2, and the growth and saturation of the stimulated Brillouin scattering were monitored. Saturation is found to occur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 1979-11, Vol.43 (21), p.1591-1595
Main Authors: Herbst, Mark J., Clayton, Christopher E., Chen, Francis F.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The saturation of stimulated Brillouin backscattering in an underdense plasma target is investigated. A 30-J, 300 MW pulsed CO2 laser system was used to irradiate an arc discharge in H2, and the growth and saturation of the stimulated Brillouin scattering were monitored. Saturation is found to occur at laser intensities as low as 2 x 10 to the 11th W/sq cm, with a maximum reflectivity of 5%. Observations in the region of growing reflectivity are best fit by the theory of convective instability in a finite, homogeneous plasma. The saturation region is explained by Bragg scattering with ion trapping, which is effective at the low electron to ion temperature ratio attained, limiting the peak ion wave amplitude to 1%.
ISSN:0031-9007
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.43.1591