Abstract
It is proposed to replace the traditional counterpropagating laser seed in backward Raman amplifiers with a plasma wave seed. In the linear regime, namely, for a constant pump amplitude, a plasma wave seed may be found by construction that strictly produces the same output pulse as does a counterpropagating laser seed. In the nonlinear regime, or pump-depletion regime, the plasma-wave-initiated output pulse can be shown numerically to approach the same self-similar attractor solution for the corresponding laser seed. In addition, chirping the plasma wave wavelength can produce the same beneficial effects as chirping the seed wave frequency. This methodology is attractive because it avoids issues in preparing and synchronizing a frequency-shifted laser seed.
Original language | American English |
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Article number | 164801 |
Journal | Physical Review Letters |
Volume | 118 |
Issue number | 16 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 17 Apr 2017 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by NNSA Grant No. DE-NA0002948 and AFOSR Grant No. FA9550-15-1-0391.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Physical Society.