Dynamics of CO(2) laser pulse filamentation in air influenced by spectrally selective molecular absorption.

Abstract

The theoretical aspects of self-focusing and filamentation of high-power pulsed CO(2) laser radiation with carrier wavelength 10.6 μm in air are considered. The spectrally selective molecular absorption of realistic atmospheric air is included in the theoretical model. In the conditions of strong pulse self-phase modulation and pulse spectral broadening, the supercontinual radiation spectrum is substantially influenced by the selective atmospheric absorption that destabilizes the filamentation process and results in considerable shortening of the filamentation length.