Possibility of observing spontaneous and stimulated Raman scattering by forbidden rotational and vibrational–rotational transitions in a strong optical field

It is shown that, in strong optical fields (~10⁹ W/cm²), Raman lines may be excited due to transitions with changes by 3 and 4 in the rotational quantum number, which are forbidden in the linear approximation. This lifting of forbiddenness for Raman scattering is due to four-photon processes in which a pump photon is absorbed and a Stokes photon is emitted in an elementary event. Under quasiresonance pumping, this type of stimulated Raman scattering may be observed due to rotational transitions. Estimate are made of the conditions for observation of the spontaneous and stimulated processes in specific media.