Investigation on high-power load ability of stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugating mirror

The factors that affect the performance of stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugating mirror (SBS-PCM) in high-power condition are demonstrated. In high-power condition, the reflectivity is limited by both the SBS medium and the PCM configuration. FC-72 is found to be the best SBS liquid medium for its very high optical breakdown threshold and very low absorption coefficient by comparing several media. As FC-72 is chosen, the impurity of the liquid is the most remarkable factor which affects the reflectivity of PCM. The Millipore membrane filters with aperture of 0.22 μm was used to clean the liquid, and the reflectivity was evidently increased. Among the parameters of the SBS-PCM, the focal length of lens is one of the most important parameters related to the load ability. In the condition of the input laser of 1 J and 10 Hz, the appropriate focal length is proved to be 50 cm. As lens is chosen, the rotating wedge plate (RWP) is used to decrease the effects of optical breakdown and thermal effects in the condition of high power and stable reflectivity is achieved. Synthetically considering all the factors of medium and configuration, an energy reflectivity of 82% is achieved when the input energy is 0.94 J and the repetition rate is at 10 Hz.