Diffractive Scattering of Picosecond Light Pulses in Absorbing Liquids

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Abstract
A mode-locked neodymium-glass laser with a fast shutter was used to study light scattering from an absorbing liquid. Two equal high-intensity beams from the laser intersected at a small angle in the liquid, and the resulting stimulated diffractive scattering was observed. Scattering was found on two time scales: a fast effect, developing within the 10-psec duration of a mode-locked laser pusle, and a slow effect requiring many nanoseconds to develop. An analysis is presented which shows the slow effect to be a combination of stimulated thermal Rayleigh scattering and stimulated thermal Brillouin scattering. The fast effect is explained as a result of saturation of the absorbing liquid in an interference pattern.