Amplification of phase-conjugate plane waves by smallscale self-focusing of light in glass

Small-scale self-focusing of light in neodymium glass was investigated experimentally in the simplest case of an interaction between a high-intensity plane laser beam and a weak beam propagating at a small angle θ with respect to the former beam. By separating the beams in the far field and measuring their energies, an investigation was made of the dependence of the gain of the θ beam and the resultant phase-conjugate – θ beam on the angle θ and on the energy density of the strong beam, including the saturated amplification regime. The experimental results are compared with the computer calculations. The feasibility of developing wavefront reversal systems utilizing the small-scale self-focusing mechanism is discussed.