Variable pulse duration Nd:YAG laser with two-cell SBS system

A compact laser model featuring adjustable pulse duration is built and tested. The model contains a Q-switch Nd:YAG oscillator and a two-cell stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugation mirror (SBS PCM). The duration and the energy of output pulses are investigated as a function of the distance between two cells. The oscillator generates pulses of duration ~9ns and energy ~25mJ. When these pulses are focused into the two-cell SBS system, an output pulse duration variable in 1~5ns range is achieved by adjusting the distance between two cells. When the distance is 15cm, the minimum pulse width (1.0ns) and maximum energy (10.3mJ) of output pulse is obtained with significant improvement of beam quality in contrast to the pump beam.