Efficient stimulated Raman scattering due to absence of second Stokes growth

Stimulated Raman scattering of a XeCl laser at 308 nm in a high-pressure H(2) cell shows high conversion into first Stokes (S1) because of an unexpected holdoff of the second Stokes (S2) component. Specifically, a photon efficiency of 88% is obtained into S1. Comparison with a plane-wave model indicates that a theory including a spatially nonuniform gain and higher-order mode generation may be necessary to understand the holdoff of the S2 growth.