Transient self-diffraction in Nd:YAG saturable amplifiers.
We investigate self-diffraction and multiwave scattering by a nonsinusoidal gain grating induced in a thick laser medium with pulses of duration much less than the population relaxation time. The energies of the transmitted and of the two first-order self-diffracted beams are calculated. Experimental measurements performed in a flash-lamp-pumped Nd:YAG amplifier at lambda = 1.064 microm show good agreement with the theoretical results. A total energy in the two first-order scattered waves of 1.1 mJ is obtained for a total incident energy of 14 mJ.
Brignon
A
A
Huignard
J P
JP