Improved output energy characteristic of optical limiting based on double stimulated Brillouin scattering

In order to improve the optical limiting performance based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), a method based on double SBS is proposed in this paper. The dependence of the output energy of optical limiting based on double SBS on the pump energy is numerically simulated, and experimentally validated with an Nd:YAG seed-injected laser. The results indicate that only the first SBS optical limiting works in the case of low pump energy. However, as the pump energy increases, the second SBS process can be activated if the transmitted power of the first SBS is still above the SBS threshold. Therefore, the output energy characteristic of optical limiting based on double SBS is much better than that based on single SBS. Owing to the sub-nanosecond response time and a high power threshold, the SBS optical limiting can provide protection in high power laser systems.