Small-scale self-focusing of 200 ps laser pulses in Brillouin amplification*

Brillouin amplification is a new method to obtain high power hundred-picosecond laser pulses for shock ignition. The laser pulse's intensity can be amplified to 10 GW/cm2 through this method. In order to determine the near-field quality, the relationship between the Brillouin amplification gain and the B integral in the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) energy transfer process was studied, and numerical simulations and calculations were carried out to explain the process. For achieving an output intensity of 10 GW/cm2 under the condition that the effect of small–scale self-focusing is insignificant in the Brillouin amplification, the influence of the configuration parameters on the Brillouin amplification and the B integral was investigated. The results showed that the 10 GW/cm2 high power output can be obtained by optimizing the intensities of the pump and Stokes light and choosing an appropriate SBS medium.