Spectral self-phase conjugation of optical radiation in stimulated scattering

Here, we provide physical insight into the nature of this coherent behaviour. We show that it is a manifestation of a phenomenon we term spectral self-phase conjugation (SpSPC), first mentioned in the literature on SBS. It is, as we show, the spectral analogue to well studied spatial self-phase conjugation and like the latter is an inherent property of SBS and of all probability other stimulated scattering phenomena. As such SpSPC provides a unique means by which spectral distortions of an optical beam may be compensated to restore the beam´s spectral coherence, in much the same way that spatial self-phase conjugation has been used to restore the spatial coherence of a spatially distorted beam.