Stimulated Brillouin Scattering
For intense beams (e.g. laser light) travelling in a medium such as an optical fiber, the variations in the electric field of the beam itself may produce acoustic vibrations in the medium via electrostriction. The beam may undergo Brillouin scattering from these vibrations, usually in opposite direction to the incoming beam, a phenomenon known as stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). For liquids and gases, typical frequency shifts are of the order of 1–10 GHz (wavelength shifts of ~1–10 pm for visible light). Stimulated Brillouin scattering is one effect by which optical phase conjugation can take place.
Read more about this topic: Brillouin Scattering
Famous quotes containing the word scattering:
“A committee is organic rather than mechanical in its nature: it is not a structure but a plant. It takes root and grows, it flowers, wilts, and dies, scattering the seed from which other committees will bloom in their turn.”
—C. Northcote Parkinson (1909–1993)