Investigation of a hypersonic wavefront-reversing mirror operating in a master-oscillator-amplifier configuration

An investigation was made of a wavefront-reversing mirror utilizing hypersonic vibrations in a master-oscillator-amplifier configuration with a strong signal wave and weak reference waves. Preferential amplification of the Stokes reference wave was found to occur for large values of the incremental gain in the interaction region, so that the reflection coefficient of the signal did not exceed 20%. The method of spatially separating the interaction and saturated gain regions and the use of polarization decoupling devices made it possible to reduce the transfer of the signal energy to the Stokes reference wave and to raise the signal reflection coefficient to 50% or higher.