Stimulated rotational Raman scattering in H2

Bruce G. Oldaker; Timothy Pritchett; Thomas R. Moore

doi:10.1117/12.239675

10 May 1996 Stimulated rotational Raman scattering in H₂

Bruce G. Oldaker, Timothy Pritchett, Thomas R. Moore

Proceedings Volume 2700, Nonlinear Frequency Generation and Conversion; (1996) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.239675
Event: Photonics West '96, 1996, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

The development of stimulated emission from molecular transitions between vibrational energy levels of diatomic gases exposed to high intensity laser pulses through the Raman effect has been studied for many years. The energy levels are non-degenerate, the pump pulse is usually linearly polarized, and there are amenable classical models of the scattering. We have started a research program to study the development and gain of stimulated emission from molecular transitions between rotational energy levels in molecular hydrogen when exposed to a high intensity laser pulse. The rotational energy levels are necessarily degenerate in angular momentum and therefore the scattering is sensitive to the angular momentum of the pump light, i.e. its polarization. We present initial experimental verification of simplified classical theories for the polarization dependence of this type of scattering for the Stokes radiation and the Stokes--Anti-Stokes coupling common to all Raman scattering. Extensions of the classical theory to higher rotational orders and similarities and differences to stimulated vibrational Raman scattering and plans for further experiments are discussed. An exciting prospect is the prediction of generating coherent emission at the rotational Raman frequency itself by using an electric field perpendicular to the laser's direction of propagation.

Citation Download Citation

Bruce G. Oldaker, Timothy Pritchett, and Thomas R. Moore "Stimulated rotational Raman scattering in H₂", Proc. SPIE 2700, Nonlinear Frequency Generation and Conversion, (10 May 1996); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.239675

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