Observations of Brillouin Sidescatter in Laser-Produced Plasmas

Abstract

This experiment shows that scattering of light in laser-illuminated spherical targets at up to 56° was dominated by the stimulated Brillouin process. The energy and spectrum of both sidescattered and backscattered light were measured. When a target was irradiated by a one-beam Nd: glass laser (${\lambda }_L=1.054\mathrm{}$ μm) with a shaped pulse at an intensity of 7×${10}^{15}$ W/${\mathrm{cm}}^2$, the stimulated Brillouin sidescatter contained up to 55% of the incident energy.