Cross-correlation measurements between the pump and Stokes intensities in stimulated Raman scattering

Abstract

The cross-correlation function between the pump and Stokes intensities in stimulated Raman scattering has been measured. It has previously been conjectured 1 and theoretically shown2 that the Stokes light generated in the presence of a multimode or broadband pump is generated with mode amplitudes and phases in perfect correlation with those of the pump. We present here experimental evidence of such cross correlations for scattering in hydrogen gas. The measurement technique used is the same as that previously used for measuring the intensity autocorrelation function of a multimode dye laser.3 This technique is based on detecting the frequency doubled light from a nonlinear crystal as a function of time delay between the pump and Stokes beams. We have performed cross-correlation measurements using as a pump the light from a multimode dye laser which is operated in two different cavity configurations: one in which the mode spacing Δυ is large compared with the spontaneous linewidth of the Raman transition Γ, Δυ > Γ; and one in which the mode spacing is small, Δυ < Γ.