Nonforward stimulated Raman scattering from a phase-modulated pump beam

I present a new treatment of the theory of nonforward stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in the field of a phase-modulated pump, where the pump phase modulation is an arbitrary function of time. The theory is accurate enough to determine the performance limitations on laser systems where SRS is a potentially controlling parasitic. Calculations are described for the Sr-5(PO4)(3)F amplifier medium where the laser beam has a pure rf modulation typical of those attainable in the laboratory. The predictions of this theory are compared with the D'yakov approximation for SRS in the field of a laser beam whose phase is Gaussian noise. (C) 2007 Optical Society of America.