Investigation of high efficiency stimulated rotational Raman scattering of hydrogen pumped by 1064 nm

Laser-induced breakdown (LIB) and the competition of other Raman processes are major reasons restricting photon conversion efficiency (PCE) of Raman lasers. In this work, 1064 nm was used as the pump source, and stimulated rotational Raman scattering of hydrogen was investigated. The configuration of zooming out and focusing pump beam was applied, and the dimension of the pump beam at the focus spot increased significantly; consequently, LIB was suppressed, and Raman PCE was improved dramatically. With the help of the Raman gas pressure optimization, vibrational Raman could be fully suppressed, and other competition Raman processes could be well controlled. The optimal PCEs of different rotational Raman lasers could be achieved under different conditions. The maximum PCE of the first rotational Stokes (RS1) was improved to 60.7%, and the maximum energy of RS1 reached 204.5 mJ. With the increment of hydrogen pressure, the maximum PCE of the second rotational Stokes (RS2) was improved to 28.2%, and the maximum energy of RS2 reached 123.9 mJ. Furthermore, a 2.1 µm Raman laser was also generated, the maximum PCE of 2.1 µm reached 44.8%, and its pulse energy reached 106.1 mJ.