Single-pulse coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering

A new technique for use in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering experiments allows the simultaneous generation of an entire Q-branch spectrum of the anti-Stokes radiation from a molecular gas using a single laser pulse. With this technique the stringent requirements of the previous techniques concerning laser linewidth and frequency stability are significantly relaxed. The excellent temporal resolution (20 nsec) makes the technique very attractive for temperature and concentration measurements of molecular gases, even in nonstationary media.