Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Coherent Forward Stimulated-Brillouin Scattering of a Spatially Incoherent Laser Beam in a Plasma and Its Effect on Beam Spray

2009; American Physical Society; Volume: 102; Issue: 15 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1103/physrevlett.102.155001

1092-0145

M. Grech, G. Riazuelo, D. Pesme, S. Weber, V. T. Tikhonchuk,

Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies

A statistical model for forward stimulated Brillouin scattering (FSBS) is developed for a spatially incoherent, monochromatic, laser beam propagating in a plasma. A threshold for the average power in a speckle is found, well below the self-focusing one, above which the laser beam spatial incoherence can not prevent the coherent growth of FSBS. Three-dimensional simulations confirm its existence and reveal the onset of beam spray above it. From these results, we propose a new figure of merit for the control of the propagation through a plasma of a spatially incoherent laser beam.