Spatial- and temporal-intensity distribution of stimulated Raman emission

Abstract
Spatial‐ and temporal‐intensity distributions of stimulated Raman scattering are found to be severely modulated compared with the incident laser beam. Solutions of Maxwell’s equations show the modulation results from nonlinear amplification of small‐amplitude fluctuations in the collimated laser‐beam intensity. The modulation growth is limited by diffraction and laser saturation.