Feasibility of optical pulse compression by stimulated Brillouin scattering in a plasma

High-power ultrashort optical pulses are obtained by compression under conditions of stimulated scattering in nonlinear media, although the radiation intensities used are generally limited by the possible breakdown of the medium. The feasibility of compression of a high-power optical pulse by stimulated Brillouin scattering in a laser plasma under conditions of amplification of a Stokes pulse from the thermal noise level, allowing for optical heating of the plasma, is studied for the first time. It is demonstrated that a laser plasma may be a convenient medium for appreciable compression of high-power long-wavelength subnanosecond pulses to durations of a few tens of picoseconds and for compression of short-wavelength pulses from a few tens of picoseconds to the subpicosecond range.