Femtosecond stimulated Raman scattering in pressurized gases in the ultraviolet and visible spectral ranges

Abstract

We investigate femtosecond stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in H2, D2, HD, and CH4 excited with 300-fs-duration pulses at 390-nm wavelength and with as much as 0.1 mJ of energy. We show that the SRS-generation threshold and conversion efficiency are due to the transient nature of SRS in femtosecond regime. We determine optimal conditions for efficient generation in the broad spectral range 289–797 nm and show how self-phase modulation and white-light generation limit the ultimate conversion efficiency.