Coherent rayleigh scattering

The spectrum of coherent scattering induced by electrostriction in gases has been analyzed in the previously unexplored, free-molecule limit by solving Boltzmann's equation with a periodic force due to the optical fields. Calculated and measured spectra of several gases at rarefied conditions are nearly Gaussian with widths approximately 10% wider than the spontaneous Rayleigh widths. Our results are the first spectrally resolved measurements of coherent Rayleigh scattering in the free-molecule limit, where the hydrodynamic analysis of stimulated Rayleigh-Brillouin scattering does not apply.