Brillouin scattering

About: Brillouin scattering is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 11426 publications have been published within this topic receiving 178306 citations.

Surface Brillouin scattering study of the surface excitations in amorphous silicon layers produced by ion bombardment

Abstract: Thin amorphous silicon layers on crystalline silicon substrates have been produced by argon-ion bombardment of (001) silicon surfaces. Thermally induced surface excitations characteristic of this example of a soft-on-hard system have been investigated by surface Brillouin scattering (SBS) as a function of scattering-angle and amorphous-layer thickness. At large scattering angles or for sufficiently large layer thickness, a second peak is present in the SBS spectrum near the low-energy threshold for the continuum of bulk excitations of the system. The measured spectra are analyzed on the basis of surface elastodynamic Green's functions, which successfully simulate their detailed appearance and identify the second peak as either a Sezawa wave (true surface wave) or a pseudo-Sezawa wave (attenuated surface wave) depending on the scattering parameters. The attributes of the pseudo-Sezawa wave are described; these include its asymmetrical line shape and variation in intensity with ${k}_{\ensuremath{\parallel}}d$ (the product of the surface excitation wave vector and the layer thickness), and its emergence as the Sezawa wave from the low-energy side of the Lamb shoulder at a critical value of ${k}_{\ensuremath{\parallel}}d.$ Furthermore, the behavior of a pronounced minimum in the Lamb shoulder near the longitudinal wave threshold observed in the experiments is reported and is found to be in good agreement with the calculated spectra. The elastic constants of the amorphous silicon layer are determined from the velocity dispersion of the Rayleigh surface acoustic wave and the minimum in the Lamb shoulder.

160-line multiwavelength generation of linear-cavity self-seeded Brillouin-Erbium fiber laser.

Abstract: We have demonstrated a novel multiwavelength Brillouin-erbium fiber laser (BEFL), in which the Brillouin pump is self-excited within the linear cavity, instead of the injection from the external cavity or direct generation in the intracavity. By using this simple scheme, the generation of more than 160 Brillouin Stokes lines has been experimentally demonstrated, which is the largest one achieved in BEFLs to the best of our knowledge. Also, the single longitudinal mode operation and the low noise performance of output wavelength line have been confirmed. Meanwhile, the experiment demonstrates that the BEFL performs good stability on both the operating wavelengths and the output power of each wavelength.

Laser pulse compression by stimulated Brillouin scattering in tapered waveguides

Abstract: The use of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) for laser pulse compression by backward wave amplification in a tapered waveguide offers an attractive alternative to systems based on SRS for use with narrowband laser pulses. Almost one hundred percent conversion efficiencies may be achieved since it is not seriously limited by second Stokes production and with the added advantage that the Stokes pulse is a phase conjugate of the input pulse, under appropriate conditions. Due to the characteristically long damping times of Brillouin-active media, the SBS process is transient. In this regime, the tail of the Stokes pulse may experience a gain and loss modulation with the laser field resulting in a breakup of the Stokes pulse. This effect can be controlled by the geometric taper on the waveguide. A practical consideration of the scaling of a Brillouin compressor to high-power laser systems, notably KrF, is presented. Specific compressor configurations for the extraction of laser pulses in the nanosecond time scale are presented, and a survey of some promising compressor media indicate the practical possibility of accomplishing compression by SBS.

Stimulated Brillouin Scattering Microscopic Imaging.

Abstract: Two-dimensional stimulated Brillouin scattering microscopy is demonstrated for the first time using low power continuous-wave lasers tunable around 780 nm. Spontaneous Brillouin spectroscopy has much potential for probing viscoelastic properties remotely and non-invasively on a microscopic scale. Nonlinear Brillouin scattering spectroscopy and microscopy may provide a way to tremendously accelerate the data aquisition and improve spatial resolution. This general imaging setup can be easily adapted for specific applications in biology and material science. The low power and optical wavelengths in the water transparency window used in this setup provide a powerful bioimaging technique for probing the mechanical properties of hard and soft tissue.

Evidence of Raman-induced polarization pulling

Abstract: The interest towards passive control of the light polarization through nonlinear effects has been stimulated by recent works: in particular a polarization pulling effect has been obtained by means of stimulated Brillouin scattering. Here we investigate the condition for obtaining polarization pulling by exploiting the stimulated Raman scattering, which is most suitable for optical communications thanks to its large gain bandwidth. The role of the polarization-dependent Raman amplification and of the random fiber birefringence is clarified by theoretical considerations and numerical simulations starting from the vector theory of the Raman effect in optical fiber. Experiments carried out with a 1571-nm signal and high-power 1486-nm pump evidence the Raman-induced polarization pulling.