Mechanism of phase conjugation via stimulated Brillouin scattering in narrow band gap semiconductors

We develop a theoretical model to study optical phase conjugation via stimulated Brillouin scattering (OPC-SBS) in narrow band gap transversely magnetized semiconductors. Threshold value of pump electric field and reflectivity of the image radiation for the onset of OPC-SBS are estimated. The analysis is applied to both cases viz. centrosymmetric (CS) and non-centrosymmetric (NCS) crystals. Numerical estimates made for n-type InSb crystal at liquid nitrogen temperature duly irradiated by nanosecond pulsed 10.6 μm CO2 laser shows that high OPC-SBS reflectivity (90%) can be achieved in NCS crystals at moderate pump electric fields if the crystal is used as an optical waveguide with relatively large interaction length (L = 5 mm) which proves its potential in practical applications such as fabrication of phase conjugate mirrors.