Abstract

Phase jumps are macroscopic manifestations of the noise that initiates and sustains a stimulated scattering process. We report the first time-resolved measurements of phase jumps in the Stokes beam produced by stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). The experimental results¹ are in excellent agreement with the results of simple theoretical models². Our measurements also led to the discovery of slow phase drifts and distinct frequency shifts in the Stokes beam. Phase jumps, phase drifts, and frequency shifts are properties common to oscillators that develop, without feedback, from noise.

© 1992 Optical Society of America