The simultaneous forward and backward stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) of crossed laser beams is studied in detail. Analytical solutions are obtained for the linearized equations governing the transient phase of the instability and the nonlinear equations governing the steady state. These solutions show that backward SBS dominates the initial evolution of the instability, whereas forward SBS dominates the steady state. The analysis of this paper is verified by numerical simulation.

• Received 8 March 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.60.5978