High-energy SBS pulse compression

Efficient temporal compression of coherent nanosecond pulses in a compact SBS generator-amplifier setup

“…For both SBS phase-conjugating mirrors and SBS pulse compressors, two general types of cell-arrangements exist [5], [8]: the single-cell SBS generator (or tapered waveguide [9]) and the multiple-cell SBS generator-amplifier setup. These types are schematically depicted in Fig.…”

“…In Figs. 1(b)-(d), different realizations are shown, which are suitable for high-energy compression [11], [6], [5], [9]. As a protection against toohigh peak intensities being launched into the generator cell, either an attenuator is introduced [ Fig.…”

“…It can be used as well to temporally compress nanosecond pulses [3]. The design of SBS-based compressors for the generation of subnanosecond pulses at energies approaching the Joule level is an active field of research [4], [5]. They offer the prospect of achieving a conversion efficiency of nearly unity, thus providing enhancement of peak intensity of a pulse while maintaining its high energy.…”

“…High-energy SBS compressors presented in literature often do not achieve high efficiencies due to multimode radiation input [6], [7] or they involve complex optical designs of combined SBS cells and laser amplifier stages [5], [4], [6]. In this paper, we present an effective and compact SBS compressor to manipulate Fourier-transform limited pulses of nanosecond duration.…”

Overview of Nonlinear Optics

“…The taper ensures SBS starts at the far end of the cell and the transient dynamics between the incident, reflected and pressure wave all combine to reduce pulses to sub-nanosecond. With two cells in a generator-amplifier setup, up to 25 J in 15 ns pulses have been compressed to 600 ps (Dane, 1994); the two-stage process is much more stable than one alone (Erokhin, 2010).…”