Ultrashort Pulse Formation in a Short-Pulse-Stimulated Raman Oscillator

A train of picosecond pulses was used to pump a stimulated Raman oscillator designed such that the generated Stokes pulse was amplified by successive pump pulses. In this way partial group velocity matching could be achieved and significant time narrowing of the Stokes pulse realized. With benzene as the Raman active material, a minimum Stokes-pulse duration of ≃ 0.3 psec was recorded.