We report on experimental studies of random lasing realized in optical fibers with the use of Brillouin amplification and Rayleigh backscattering employed as a distributed feedback instead of a cavity mirror. In our experiment 25-km-long high quality standard telecom single-mode fiber was employed for Rayleigh reflection uniformly distributed over all fiber length. We have observed a clear competition between a classical Brillouin scattering and Brillouin lasing. Presence of extended fluctuation-free fragments in the recorded oscilloscope traces highlights Stokes power statistics typical for laser radiation rather than for Brillouin process. The results of the experiments are in a perfect agreement with the model of Brillouin - Rayleigh cooperative process in long fibers.

Date Published: 26 February 2013
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 8601, Fiber Lasers X: Technology, Systems, and Applications, 86011K (26 February 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2003186

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8601:
Fiber Lasers X: Technology, Systems, and Applications
Sami T. Hendow, Editor(s)