How diffraction affects the propagation of ultrashort optical pulses in isotropic insulators

Abstract

The "averaged Lagrangian method" is used along with the paraxial and aberration-free approximations to investigate how diffraction affects the propagation of ultrashort optical pulses in an isotropic insulator. It is shown that diffraction is capable of compensating the self-focusing phenomenon if the number of vibrations contained in a pulse exceeds a definite critical value. © 2004 Optical Society of America