An overview on current trends in stimulated Brillouin scattering and optical phase conjugation is given. This report is based on the results of the "Second International Workshop on stimulated Brillouin scattering and phase conjugation" held in Potsdam/Germany in September 2007. The properties of stimulated Brillouin scattering are presented for the compensation of phase distortions in combination with novel laser technology like ceramics materials but also for e.g., phase stabilization, beam combination, and slow light. Photorefractive nonlinear mirrors and resonant refractive index gratings are addressed as phase conjugating mirrors in addition.

The isotope shifts of twelve Zr I 4d35s-4d25s5p transitions in the green and the 4d35s a 5F5-4d35p y 5G6 `reference' transition at 468.78 nm have been determined by the technique of Doppler-free saturated absorption spectroscopy in a sputtered vapour. The specific mass shift (SMS) and the field shift (FS) contributions were separated using a King-plot analysis, in which the SMS of the 468.78 nm reference transition was estimated from ab initio calculations. The 4d35s-4d25s5p transitions, which involve an electron jump 4d→5p, represent an important class in which the SMS is large compared with the FS. This enables SMSs to be determined to high accuracy (1-2%), thus affording stringent tests of ab initio calculations. An interpretation of the isotope shifts was performed using refined multiconfigurational fine-structure calculations and pseudo-relativistic Hartree-Fock (PSUHFR) calculations. The SMS values deduced from the PSUHFR calculations are found to be systematically higher than the experimental SMS values for all levels, by an average factor of 1.45±0.07 (where the uncertainty represents the standard deviation of the distribution). Using PSUHFR estimates for the electron density at the nucleus together with the experimental FS for the 4d35s a 5F5-4d25s5p y 5G6 transition, the 90Zr-92Zr FSs for some relevant odd-parity configurations are predicted to be FS(4d35p) =-419 MHz, FS(4d25s6p) = + 281 MHz and FS(4d5s25p) = + 1012 MHz, relative to the lower-level configuration 4d35s.

A temperature measurement scheme was proposed in a diode end-pumped thin monolithic Yb:YAG laser by analyzing the red-shifting behaviors of each lasing peak. The amount of peak shift was measured on the basis of the threshold lasing spectrum by using a chopped pump beam. In order to determine the effective scale factor, the ratio between the peak shift and the temperature rise, the dynamics of the spectral shift, the output beam profile, and the output power were investigated. The effective scale factor was determined to be about 0.0114 nm/°C in the case of the crystal sandwiched by copper bocks with a hole, wherein the plane stress approximation is valid. On the other hand, the effective scale factor significantly decreased in the case of the crystal sandwiched by sapphire plates.

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