Polarization-dependent phase locking in stimulated Brillouin scattering systems

Measurements of the mutual coherence of the output beams from a seeded, two-pump-beam, stimulated Brillouin scattering system are reported. Mutual coherence depends on the relative polarizations of the pump beams and the seed beam. A seed beam can phase-lock the Stokes outputs even if the pump beams are orthogonally polarized. Four-wave mixing is responsible for this phase locking.