Stimulated resonant hyper-Raman scattering of light by polaritons in alkali metal vapors

A theory is developed for the calculation of the gain g due to stimulated resonant hyper-Raman scattering of light by polaritons in gaseous media. It is shown that throughout the tuning range of the pump frequency (including one- and two-photon resonances) a maximum of g corresponds to a dispersion curve of polaritons plotted ignoring attenuation. Theoretical results are used to analyze characteristics of hyper-Raman scattering in sodium vapor. It is shown that under normal experimental conditions the splitting of polariton branches is considerable (amounting to tens of reciprocal centimeters on the frequency scale and several angular degrees). The value of g is estimated for two-photon resonances in the case when the pump frequency is tunable in a wide range. The optimal conditions for stimulated hyper-Raman scattering are identified.