Propagation Of Intense Femtosecond Pulses Research Articles

Filament-induced breakdown spectroscopy of solids through highly scattering media.

Ultrafast laser pulse filamentation in the air can be used for remote sensing by exciting a characteristic optical emission, which is usually referred to as filamentation-induced breakdown spectroscopy. In environments that impede light propagation, such as fog, haze, or clouds, scattering makes it challenging to propagate laser beams and retrieve generated optical signatures. We demonstrate the effectiveness of laser filamentation for simultaneously clearing the path for intense femtosecond pulse propagation in a highly scattering medium, generation of luminous plasma on a solid target, and counter-propagation of a characteristic spectroscopic signal over a cleared channel along the filament path. In a dense cloud, the counter-propagating signal predominantly transits the cleared on-axis path but is highly affected by the negative thermal lensing of a Gaussian beam. These insights enhance our understanding of laser filamentation in atmospheric sensing and could substantially improve remote detection capabilities in poor visibility conditions.

Temporal field and frequency spectrum of intense femtosecond radiation dynamics in the process of plasma formation in a dielectric medium

We consider the propagation of intense femtosecond pulses in a dielectric medium with an induced plasma. This plasma is excited by the strong electric field of the pulses, stimulating sequential electron transition to the conductivity band through excited discrete energy states. It is demonstrated that this simple dynamic model of ultrashort optical pulse propagation in a dielectric medium with self-induced plasma can be applied to experiments on the superbroadening of the pulse spectrum into the long-wavelength range, including terahertz generation, as well as the generation of high-order harmonics.

Pulse reshaping in nearly resonant interaction of femtosecond pulses with dense rubidium vapor

Propagation of intense femtosecond pulses resonant with the atomic rubidium vapor results in phenomenon known as conical emission. The origin of this phenomenon is connected with self-phase modulation in time domain accompanied with spatial self-focusing for blue-detuned pulses. When the laser central wavelength is red-detuned the self-defocusing occurs. Using frequency-resolved optical gating measurements and simple modeling of pulse propagation within the linear dispersion theory it is shown that the retrieved phase of the propagated pulse, and the associated instantaneous frequency, shows evidence of both linear dispersion and self-phase modulation. These results are consistent with the theory of the intensity dependent nonlinear refraction index in medium where linear dispersion contributes significantly to pulse reshaping.

Study on the nonlinear dynamic of ultrashort pulse propagation in noble gases

We present a numerical study on the evolution of the intense femtosecond pulse propagation in argon by solving the extended nonlinear Schr¨odinger equation which includes the beam diffraction, group velocity dispersion, self focusing, absorption and defocusing due to the electron density, and multiphoton ionization processes. The temporal and spatial profiles and the dynamic picture of the ultrashort pulse propagation in argon under different incident conditions such as initial peak intensity, pressure, beam radius, pulse width, and the focal length are discussed. Because the competition between the self focusing and defocusing effects accompanying with other effects as we mentioned above, we can see the splitting into two or even three peaks of the pulse in the time domain.

Quantum molecular lensing of femtosecond laser optical/plasma filaments

The long-range filamentary propagation of intense femtosecond pulses in atmosphere has been observed for the first time to be strongly effected by quantum rotational wave packets. A two-pulse experiment shows that a filamenting probe pulse can be steered and trapped in or destroyed by the rotational alignment wake following a pump filament.

Asymptotic pulse shapes in filamentary propagation of intense femtosecond pulses

Self-compression of intense ultrashort laser pulses inside a self-guided filament is discussed. The filament self-guiding mechanism requires a balance between diffraction, plasma self-defocusing and Kerr-type self-focusing, which gives rise to asymptotic intensity profiles on axis of the filament. The asymptotic solutions appear as the dominant pulse shaping mechanism in the leading part of the pulse, causing a pinch of the photon density close to zero delay, which substantiates as pulse compression. The simple analytical model is backed up by numerical simulations, confirming the prevalence of spatial coupling mechanisms and explaining the emerging inhomogeneous spatial structure. Numerical simulations confirm that only spatial effects alone may already give rise to filament formation. Consequently, self-compression is explained by a dynamic balance between two optical nonlinearities, giving rise to soliton-like pulse formation inside the filament.

Search for stable propagation of intense femtosecond laser pulses in gas

AbstractWe report and discuss experimental results on the propagation of CPA pulses of moderately relativistic intensity in gas: they evidence the effects of the precursor pedestals of the main pulse. Details of great interest were observed for the first time with high quality femtosecond 90-degree interferometry. The interferometric data are also correlated with imaging and spectroscopy data of laser pulse transmitted through the gas. The most relevant physical features are confirmed by a numerical code which simulates the laser pulse propagation self-consistently with the ionization of the gas. We found that in this regime, the propagation of the intense femtosecond pulse is basically stable apart from very weak refractive effects. In order to allow propagation at fixed intensity along an optical path larger than the Rayleigh range, we performed a first successful attempt at producing hollow plasma channels able to guide the pulse.

X-ray spectroscopy of1cmplasma channels produced by self-guided pulse propagation in elongated cluster jets

We diagnose the self-channeled propagation of intense femtosecond pulses over an extended distance in a N2O cluster gas target using high resolution kilovolt x-ray pinhole images of the channel and spatially resolved x-ray spectra. The x-ray images are consistent with femtosecond optical scattering, shadowgraphy, and interferometry images. We observe extended plasma channels (approximately 9 mm) limited either by the cluster jet length or by absorption, for injected laser intensities in the range of 10(16)-10(17) W/cm2. Spectral line shapes for the OVII 1s2-1s3p and OVIII 1s-2p transitions (at 1.8627 and 1.8969 nm, respectively) show significant broadening to the blue side and with truncated emission on the red side. We attribute this effect to Doppler blueshifted emission from fast ions from exploding clusters moving toward the spectrometer; redshifted emission from the opposite side of the cluster is absorbed.

Measurements of intense femtosecond laser pulse propagation in air

The nonlinear self-focusing of an intense femtosecond pulse propagating in air can be balanced by the plasma defocusing as the laser intensity is increased above the threshold for multiphoton ionization. The resultant laser∕plasma filament can extend many meters, suitable for many applications such as remote atmospheric breakdown, laser induced electrical discharge, and femtosecond laser material interactions. Direct (bore-sight) measurements of filament size and fluence over 4 m showed a preservation of the total energy in the filament during propagation. This indicates the energy lost in creating the central plasma column through multiphoton ionization was continuously being replenished from the surrounding radiation. Electrical measurement of the filament conductivity estimated the plasma density to be 1×1016cm−3 and electrical discharges triggered by a femtosecond laser filament were found to occur at substantially reduced breakdown fields.

Femtosecond pulse propagation in air: variational analysis

We use a variational method to study the phenomenon of intense femtosecond pulse propagation in air. This method allows us to obtain a semianalytical solution to the problem in which a wide range of initial conditions can be studied. In addition, it provides a simple physical interpertation, where the problem is reduced to an analogous problem of a particle moving in a potential well. Different types of possible solutions are considered, with focus upon the main physical interpretations. The results recapture at least qualitatively some of the major experimental observations, and previous numerical simulations.

Investigations of nonlinear femtosecond pulse propagation with the inclusion of Raman, shock, and third-order phase effects

The propagation of intense femtosecond pulses in a nonlinear, dispersive bulk medium is investigated numerically in the regime where the combined effects of diffraction, normal dispersion, and cubic nonlinearity lead to pulse splitting. We present numerical solutions of a modified $(3+1)$-dimensional nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation, accounting for the Raman effect, linear and nonlinear shock terms, third-order dispersion, and initial temporal third-order phase modulation. The calculated results are found to be in good agreement with experimental measurements.

Amplitude and phase measurements of femtosecond pulse splitting in nonlinear dispersive media

Frequency-resolved optical gating is used to characterize the propagation of intense femtosecond pulses in a nonlinear, dispersive medium. The combined effects of diffraction, normal dispersion, and cubic nonlinearity lead to pulse splitting. The role of the phase of the input pulse is studied. The results are compared with the predictions of a three-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation.