Polarization of the third harmonic emission from the filamentation of femtosecond cylindrical vector beams.

Abstract

We experimentally generate a third harmonic (TH) vector optical field in deep ultraviolet wavelength range using femtosecond vector laser beams. The generated TH beams are characterized by analyzing the Stokes parameters with different input laser energies. The results show that the TH predominantly preserves the vector polarization distribution of the fundamental frequency beam. Moreover, the intensity profile of the TH exhibits a multiple-ring structure. A hybrid polarization pattern is observed in the TH, where the ellipticity is influenced by the input laser energy. Our work provides an effective and straightforward method for producing TH vector optical fields, which may facilitate potential applications such as micro/nanofabrication and super-resolution microscopy.