Publication | Closed Access
Self-transparency effects in heterogeneous nonlinear scattering media and their possible use in lasers
20
Citations
0
References
1986
Year
Optical MaterialsEngineeringLaser ScienceNonlinear OpticsLaser PhysicsLaser ApplicationsNonlinear ScatteringLaser MaterialSuper-intense LasersHigh-power LasersSelf-transparency EffectsOptical PropertiesNanophotonicsPossible UseMaterials SciencePhotonicsOptical PumpingPhysicsNon-linear OpticNonlinear CrystalsLaser ResonatorLaser ClassificationOptical PhysicApplied PhysicsLight ScatteringLaser-surface InteractionsLaser-solid InteractionsIntense Laser BeamsLaser Damage
Transmission of intense laser beams through heterogeneous scattering media is considered. Effects of intensity limitation, self-recovery of the wave front of a transmitted beam, and bistable reflection associated with the laser-induced self-transparency (suppression of scattering) of such media are predicted because of the compensation of the linear refractive-index difference ΔnL of the heterocomponents of a medium by nonlinear change ΔnNL for different mechanisms of nonlinearity. Applications of these effects in lasers for Q switching and mode locking are discussed. The observation of self-transparency effects in several heterogeneous media (glass particles in toluene and nitrobenzene, and lead molybdenite powder) for cw Ar- and pulsed Nd- and CO2-laser radiation is reported. Q switching and mode locking have also been demonstrated with a YAG:Nd laser using nonlinear scattering in a heterogeneous cell as a control element in a laser resonator.