Quantum noise limit to the beam-pointing stability in stimulated Raman generation
Ian A. Walmsley · Journal of the Optical Society of America B · 1991
The quantum noise inherent in the initial stages of stimulated Raman scattering leads to a fundamental limit to the shot-to-shot directional stability of the Stokes beam from an unsaturated Raman generator. The probability that the centroid of the Stokes beam will propagate in a given direction is calculated theoretically by means of a coherent-mode expansion, and it is shown that the angular stability of the centroid is ~10% of the beam divergence angle for a uniformly pumped, cylindrical Raman generator with Fresnel-number unity.