Filamentation of ultrashort pulse laser beams resulting from their propagation over long distances in air
La Fontaine, B. ; Vidal, F. ; Jiang, Z. ; Chien, C. Y. ; Comtois, D. ; Desparois, A. ; Johnston, T. W. ; Kieffer, J.-C. ; Pépin, H.
[S.l.] : American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Published 1999
[S.l.] : American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Published 1999
| ISSN: |
1089-7674
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| Source: |
AIP Digital Archive
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| Topics: |
Physics
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| Notes: |
The propagation of high-power short-pulse laser beams over considerable distances in air is studied both experimentally and via numerical simulations. Filaments are formed after 5–10 m and their propagation over distances in excess of 200 m is reported for the first time. The lateral dimensions of the filaments are found to range from about 100 μm to a few millimeters in diameter. The early values of plasma electron density have been inferred to be a few times 1016 cm−3 using longitudinal spectral interferometry. For 500 fs pulses and a wavelength of 1053 nm, the energy in the filament can be quite high initially (∼8 mJ) and is found to stabilize at about 1.5–2 mJ, after about 35 m. A simple model based on the nonlinear Schrödinger equation coupled to a multiphoton ionization law appears to describe several experimental results quite well. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.
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| Type of Medium: |
Electronic Resource
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| URL: |