Tunable-shift stimulated Raman scattering in water by chirped 50 fs to 4.5 ps UV-pulses.

Forward stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) induced by focused 400 nm pulses chirped to different pulse durations is observed in water and heavy water. The first Stokes Raman peak shift is shown to be tunable in the range of ${{3500 {-} 4200}}\;{{\rm{cm}}^{- 1}}$ in water and ${{2450 {-} 3250}}\;{{\rm{cm}}^{- 1}}$ in heavy water. It is demonstrated that the Stokes peak shift increases for shorter pulse durations and higher intensities.