title: Bright emission from a random Raman laser.
abstract: Random lasers are a developing class of light sources that utilize a highly disordered gain medium as opposed to a conventional optical cavity. Although traditional random lasers often have a relatively broad emission spectrum, a random laser that utilizes vibration transitions via Raman scattering allows for an extremely narrow bandwidth, on the order of 10 cm(-1). Here we demonstrate the first experimental evidence of lasing via a Raman interaction in a bulk three-dimensional random medium, with conversion efficiencies on the order of a few percent. Furthermore, Monte Carlo simulations are used to study the complex spatial and temporal dynamics of nonlinear processes in turbid media. In addition to providing a large signal, characteristic of the Raman medium, the random Raman laser offers us an entirely new tool for studying the dynamics of gain in a turbid medium.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics & Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA [2] Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: Brett H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Hokr
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: Joel N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Bixler
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics & Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Cone
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics & Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.affiliation: 711th Human Performance Wing, Human Effectiveness Directorate, Bioeffects Division, Optical Radiation Bioeffects Branch, JBSA Fort Sam Houston, Texas 78234, USA.
authors.forename: Hope T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Beier
authors.affiliation: TASC Inc., San Antonio, Texas 78228, USA.
authors.forename: Gary D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Noojin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: Georgi I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Petrov
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physics, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russia.
authors.forename: Leonid A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Golovan
authors.affiliation: 711th Human Performance Wing, Human Effectiveness Directorate, Bioeffects Division, Optical Radiation Bioeffects Branch, JBSA Fort Sam Houston, Texas 78234, USA.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: 711th Human Performance Wing, Human Effectiveness Directorate, Bioeffects Division, Optical Radiation Bioeffects Branch, JBSA Fort Sam Houston, Texas 78234, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Rockwell
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics & Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA [2] Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: Vladislav V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Yakovlev
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D007834:Lasers; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000379:methods*