Brillouin scattering occurs when light in a medium (such as water or a crystal) interacts with density variations and changes its path. The density variations may be due to acoustic modes (travelling sound waves) or temperature gradients. As described in classical physics, when the medium is compressed, the index of refraction of light in the medium changes and its path necessarily bends. Jump to: navigation, search Prism splitting light Light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength that is visible to the eye (visible light) or, in a technical or scientific setting, electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength. ... Jump to: navigation, search Water (from the Old English word wæter; c. ... Quartz crystal A crystal is a solid in which the constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are packed in a regularly ordered, repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. ... Jump to: navigation, search Density (symbol: ρ - Greek: rho) is a measure of mass per unit of volume. ... Temperature is the physical property of a system which underlies the common notions of hot and cold; the material with the higher temperature is said to be hotter. ... Jump to: navigation, search Classical physics is physics based on principles developed before the rise of quantum theory, including the special theory of relativity. ... Jump to: navigation, search The refractive index of a material is the factor by which the phase velocity of electromagnetic radiation is slowed relative to vacuum. ...

From a quantum point of view, Brillouin scattering is considered to consist of interaction of light photons with acoustic or vibrational quanta (phonons). Fig. ... Jump to: navigation, search In physics, the photon (from Greek φοτος, meaning light) is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, for instance light. ... A phonon is a quantized mode of vibration occurring in a rigid crystal lattice, such as the atomic lattice of a solid. ...

The scattered light has a wavelength that is changed slightly by a variable quantity known as the Brillouin shift. Stimulated Brillouin Scattering is used for Optical Phase Conjugation in optics. Jump to: navigation, search The wavelength is the distance between repeating units of a wave pattern. ... Nonlinear optics is the branch of optics that describes the behaviour of light in nonlinear media, that is, media in which the polarization P responds nonlinearly to the electric field E of the light. ...

This phenomenon was first described by Leon Brillouin (1889-1969). When High energy waves are launched into the fiber, the Silica molecules vibrate and cause Phonons to interact with photons causing elastic waves in the fiber core. These elastic waves modulate the light waves causing jitters in the pulses and thus modifying the eye diagram. Léon N. Brillouin ( August 7, 1889- 1969) was a French physicist. ...

See also:

• scattering
• Raman scattering
• Plasma cosmology

In particle physics, scattering is a class of phenomena by which particles are deflected by collisions with other particles. ... Raman scattering or the Raman effect is the inelastic scattering of a photon which creates or annihilates an optical phonon. ... Jump to: navigation, search M87s Energetic Jet. ...

External links

• http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/optmod/brill.html