Correction of thermally induced optical aberrations and coherent phasing of beams during stimulated Brillouin scattering

Abstract

Errors in wave-front correction accompanying wave-front inversion and stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) are studied for the case of laser beams in which aberrations are produced by thermally induced lenses. Heat-treated glass samples are used whose optical properties simulate those of active elements in periodic pulsed lasers and whose refractive index profiles over the cross section vary from one sample to the next and are appreciably anisotropic. The angular inversion parameter is measured and the change in the intensity distribution of the light in the near and far zones is studied. The possibility of efficient coherent phasing of light beams during SBS accompanied by wavefront inversion is demonstrated, which should allow the use of partitioned active elements and the design of lasers with synthesized apertures. 10 references.