Femtosecond Filamentation Research Articles

Strong Spatial Confinement of Terahertz Wave inside Femtosecond Laser Filament

In this paper, a new experimental phenomenon is demonstrated. During the femtosecond laser filamentation, the generated terahertz (THz) pulse has been found to be strongly confined inside the plasma channel, reaching a spatial diameter of a few tens of micrometers. It has been attributed to the formation of a plasma negative dielectric waveguide induced by the transverse inhomogeneous plasma density distribution. The new experimental phenomenon will renew the understanding of the THz wave generation and propagation dynamics during the femtosecond laser and air plasma interaction. Due to this strong spatial confinement, THz electric field strength could be enhanced by orders of magnitude, potentially providing a new approach to performing THz nonlinear optics with low laser energy.

Influences of astigmatic focusing geometry on femtosecond filamentation and supercontinuum generation in fused silica

The influences of focal lens tilting on the filamentation of femtosecond laser pulses in fused silica were studied experimentally. The length of filamentation, output beam profile and supercontinuum generation were found to be close related with the tilt angle of the focusing element. When the focusing lens is rotated, the filament breaks into two parts along the propagation axis. The distance between the two parts was calculated and well matched with the predicted results. It is also found that the supercontinuum spectrum becomes narrower and its conversion efficiency becomes lower by rotating the focal lens.

THz generation by two-color femtosecond filaments with complex polarization states: four-wave mixing versus photocurrent contributions

Two-color filamenation in gases is known to produce intense and broadband THz radiation. There are two physical mechanisms responsible for the THz generation in this scheme: four-wave mixing and emission from the induced plasma currents. The case when the main and second harmonic are linearly polarized is well studied including the impact from each of the above mechanisms. However, for the cases when the two-color fields have complex polarization states the role of the four-wave mixing and plasma mechanisms in the formation of the THz polarization is still under-explored. Here we use both the four-wave mixing and photocurrent models in order to consider the THz generation by two-color fields with arbitrary polarizations. We show that under specific polarizations of the two-color field components it is possible to determine which of the mechanisms is responsible for the THz polarization formation.

Lasing dynamics of neutral nitrogen molecules in femtosecond filaments

We investigate the dynamics of cavity-free lasing from neutral nitrogen molecules in femtosecond laser filaments. An important difference of intensity and temporal duration is observed between backward and forward lasing, in both amplified spontaneous emission and seed-amplification regimes. Numerical simulations based on a nonadiabatic Maxwell-Bloch model reproduce well the observations, and attribute these differences to the finite gain lifetime and the traveling excitation nature of this gas laser.

Fusion of regularized femtosecond filaments in air: far field on-axis emission

The fusion of several coherent 800 nm femtosecond filaments is induced experimentally and numerically by transmitting a beam through a mask with circular apertures followed by the focusing lens. The far-field image of the four-filament fusion region reveals bright on-axis maximum and differs drastically from the diffraction pattern of a low energy beam propagating through the mask in the linear regime. In 3D+time numerical simulations with the carrier wave resolved we show a factor-of-5 saturable growth in the peak plasma density with successive increase in the number of mask openings. An overall spectral blueshift of the fundamental and the third harmonics follows the plasma density increase. The simulated far-field on-axis emission agrees with the experiment and serves as the indication of nonlinear interaction in the fusion region.

Measurements of fluence profiles in femtosecond laser filaments in air.

We introduce a technique to measure fluence distributions in femtosecond laser beams with peak intensity of up to several hundred terawatts per square centimeter. Our approach is based on the dependence of single-shot laser ablation threshold for gold on the angle of incidence of the laser beam on the gold sample. We apply this technique to the profiling of fluence distributions in femtosecond laser filaments at a wavelength of 800 nm in air. The peak intensity is found to be clamped at a level that depends on the external beam focusing. The limiting value of the peak intensity attainable in long-range 800 nm air filaments, under very loose focusing conditions (f-number above ∼500), is about 55 TW/cm2.

Adiabatic Floquet model for the optical response in femtosecond filaments

The standard model of femtosecond filamentation is based on phenomenological assumptions which suggest that the ionization-induced carriers can be treated as a homogeneous, uncorrelated plasma according to the Drude model, while the nonlinear response of the bound carriers is responsible for the all-optical Kerr effect. Here, we demonstrate that the additional plasma generated at a multiphoton resonance dominates the saturation of the nonlinear refractive index. Since resonances are not captured by the standard model, we propose a modification of the latter in which ionization enhancements can be accounted for by an ionization rate obtained from non-Hermitian Floquet theory. In the adiabatic regime of long pulse envelopes, this augmented standard model is in excellent agreement with direct quantum mechanical simulations. Since our proposal maintains the structure of the standard model, it can be easily incorporated into existing codes for the numerical simulation of femtosecond filaments.

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Generation of periodic filament arrays in air through two-dimensional acousto-optic modulation

We have numerically studied femtosecond laser filament array generation in air by using two-dimensional acousto-optic modulation (AOM). Similar regular filament distributions have been achieved compared with filamentation by using a microlens array (MLA) in air. The overall length of filamentation with the same onset can be prolonged almost triple that generated in the case of a single lens. The modulation frequency, namely, acoustic period, has a great effect on the elongation. For the supercontinuum (SC), more efficient enhancement on the blue side, especially the visible spectrum, can be obtained with higher frequency of acousto-optic modulation, but at the cost of weaker redshift. The energy evolution process is different from the case with an MLA due to the sinusoidal phase modulation, which interprets distinguishes between these two cases. The AOM offers a convenient way to control the filamentation and SC emission, which can be a valid substitute of an MLA.

Filamentation of femtosecond laser pulse influenced by the air turbulence at various propagation distances

The spatial and temporal features of femtosecond laser filamentation, which are induced by a laser with power several times higher than the critical power, influenced by strong air turbulence at various propagation distances have been studied numerically. First, a strong turbulence occurring right before focal lens induces a few counter-balanced energy spikes which prevent the filament generation. Second, with the turbulence right before the filamentation, side filaments formed in the periphery towards the outside area leads the filament to be slightly short. Third, with the turbulence right after the lens, numerous energy spikes of the wave profile arise, but they will merge into one filament gradually, leading to a delayed filamentation onset and a shorter filamentation length. The deformation of temporal pulse shape become more sensitive and the supercontinuum (SC) can be weakened more significantly when strong turbulence takes place in air more previously.

Research on the fluorescence emission from water vapor induced by femtosecond filamentation in air

Our experiments show that initial energy and humidity strongly influences the water vapor fluorescence induced by ultrashort intense femtosecond laser pulses. It is found that the fluorescence signal can be enhanced by both increasing the humidity in the case of fixed energy and increasing the pulse energy in the case of fixed humidity. In addition, water vapor fluorescence emission in the linear polarization is stronger than that in the circular polarization due to the higher dissociation efficiency of linearly polarized pulses. The mechanism of water vapor fluorescence emission during femtosecond filamentation is discussed based on the analysis of these phenomena.

Picosecond laser filamentation in air

The propagation of intense picosecond laser pulses in air in the presence of strong nonlinear self-action effects and air ionization is investigated experimentally and numerically. The model used for numerical analysis is based on the nonlinear propagator for the optical field coupled to the rate equations for the production of various ionic species and plasma temperature. Our results show that the phenomenon of plasma-driven intensity clamping, which has been paramount in femtosecond laser filamentation, holds for picosecond pulses. Furthermore, the temporal pulse distortions in the picosecond regime are limited and the pulse fluence is also clamped. In focused propagation geometry, a unique feature of picosecond filamentation is the production of a broad, fully ionized air channel, continuous both longitudinally and transversely, which may be instrumental for many applications including laser-guided electrical breakdown of air, channeling microwave beams and air lasing.

Kinetic study on non-thermal volumetric plasma decay in the early afterglow of air discharge generated by a short pulse microwave or laser

This paper reports a kinetic study on non-thermal plasma decay in the early afterglow of air discharge generated by short pulse microwave or laser. A global self-consistent model is based on the particle balance of complex plasma chemistry, electron energy equation, and gas thermal balance equation. Electron-ion Coulomb collision is included in the steady state Boltzmann equation solver to accurately describe the electron mobility and other transport coefficients. The model is used to simulate the afterglow of microsecond to nanosecond pulse microwave discharge in N2, O2, and air, as well as femtosecond laser filament discharge in dry and humid air. The simulated results for electron density decay are in quantitative agreement with the available measured ones. The evolution of plasma decay under an external electric field is also investigated, and the effect of gas heating is considered. The underlying mechanism of plasma density decay is unveiled through the above kinetic modeling.

Energy deposition of single femtosecond filaments in the atmosphere.

We present spatially resolved measurements of energy deposition into atmospheric air by femtosecond laser filaments. Single filaments formed with varying laser pulse energy and pulsewidth were examined using longitudinal interferometry, sonographic probing, and direct energy loss measurements. We measure peak and average energy absorption of ∼4 μJ/cm and ∼1 μJ/cm for input pulse powers up to ∼6 times the critical power for self-focusing.

Spatial-temporal dynamics of the terahertz field generated by femtosecond filament

We present the study on spatial distribution of the maximum of terahertz field amplitude in time domain when generated by a femtosecond filament. It is shown that as a result of the propagation of the terahertz field forms a spherical wave front, on the edge of which the maximum of amplitude has a temporary delay in contrary to its central part.

Dispersion of the anti-Stokes band in the spectrum of a light bullet of a femtosecond filament

A law determining the dispersion shift of the anti-Stokes band of the supercontinuum of a light bullet in a filament of a femtosecond laser pulse in transparent dielectrics has been established. The dispersion equation theoretically obtained for the anti-Stokes shift has been confirmed by spectroscopic studies of the filamentation of the near and middle infrared ranges in fused silica and fluorides.

Consequences of femtosecond laser filament generation conditions in standoff laser induced breakdown spectroscopy.

The combination of femtosecond laser filament ablation and emission spectroscopy is a potential analytical tool for standoff characterization of samples of interest. We compare the emission features and physical conditions of plasmas generated from metal targets using either by loosely focused femtosecond filaments or by lens-free filaments. Our results show that the filament generation conditions influence the plasma properties appreciably which include the atomic and molecular emission features, persistence and plasma fundamentals (temperature and density). The loosely focused fs pulse filaments are found to generate ablation plumes with higher temperature and density along with increased persistence compared to plumes generated by lens-free filaments.

Laser optoacoustic diagnostics of femtosecond filaments in air using wideband piezoelectric transducers

New opportunities in ultrasound diagnostics of femtosecond laser filaments with wideband piezoelectric transducers are considered. Transverse spatial resolution better than 100 microns is demonstrated in the single and regular multiple filamentation regime making path toward 3D filament tomography. The simple analytical model of the cylindrical acoustic source fitted well with the experimental data.

Decay of femtosecond laser-induced plasma filaments in air, nitrogen, and argon for atmospheric and subatmospheric pressures.

The temporal evolution of a plasma channel at the trail of a self-guided femtosecond laser pulse was studied experimentally and theoretically in air, nitrogen (with an admixture of ∼3% O_{2}), and argon in a wide range of gas pressures (from 2 to 760 Torr). Measurements by means of transverse optical interferometry and pulsed terahertz scattering techniques showed that plasma density in air and nitrogen at atmospheric pressure reduces by an order of magnitude within 3-4 ns and that the decay rate decreases with decreasing pressure. The argon plasma did not decay within several nanoseconds for pressures of 50-760 Torr. We extended our theoretical model previously applied for atmospheric pressure air plasma to explain the plasma decay in the gases under study and to show that allowance for plasma channel expansion affects plasma decay at low pressures.

Laser optoacoustic tomography for the study of femtosecond laser filaments in air

We propose to use optoacoustic tomography to study the characteristics of femtosecond laser filamentation in air and condensed matter. The high spatial resolution of the proposed system, which consists of an array of broadband megahertz piezoelectric elements, ensures its effectiveness, despite the attenuation of ultrasonic waves in air.