Pulses In Air Research Articles

Dynamics of the Optical Characteristics of Erosion Laser Flares of Metals Formed by Intense Nanosecond Laser Pulses Under Atmospheric Conditions

UDC 621.373.826.004.14 Time resolved laser induced plasma spectroscopy is used to study the erosion laser fl ares of a number of metals (Ni, Pb, Zn) exposed to intense 20-ns Nd:YAG laser pulses in air at atmospheric pressure (λ = 1064 nm, 0.1 ≤ q ≤ 3 GW/ cm 2 ). The time variation of the emission from the laser induced plasma is studied. Characteristic lines of the elements are found in the laser fl ares and the formation of the spectral structure of the erosion laser fl ares under these conditions is discussed.

Noncollinear six-wave mixing of femtosecond laser pulses in air

Noncollinear six-wave mixing of femtosecond light pulses in air by two crossed laser beams has been demonstrated. It was shown that within a wide range of laser intensities this process leads to efficient third-order-harmonic generation, which indicates the importance of higher-order optical nonlinearities in intense light-matter interactions. A direct comparison of the experiment and theory allowed us to estimate unambiguously the magnitude of the quintic optical nonlinearity ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{xyyyyx}^{(5)}(\ensuremath{-}3\ensuremath{\omega};\ensuremath{\omega},\ensuremath{\omega},\ensuremath{\omega},\ensuremath{\omega},\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\omega})$ of air as $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}49}$ (m/V)${}^{4}$. We expect that this technique could be useful for multiphoton spectroscopy and laser frequency conversion, as well as for ultrashort light-pulse characterization and verification of theoretical models describing propagation of powerful laser pulses in gaseous media.

Raman effect in self-focusing of few-cycle laser pulses in air

Self-focusing of ultrashort pulses in air is investigated by means of numerical simulations. The role of the vibrational Raman effect and its dependence on pulse chirp is studied, with results shedding new light on the interpretation of the measurements of the critical self-focusing power. We also discuss computational modeling issues important specifically for few-cycle pulses.

Fabrication of nitrogen vacancy color centers by femtosecond pulse laser illumination

We report on a novel method to fabricate single, multiple and large-area high-density ensembles of nitrogen vacancy (NV) color centers in synthetic type Ib bulk diamond by femtosecond laser illumination. Electron beams generated in propagation of intense infrared laser pulses in air sputtered on a diamond sample under high temperature aroused by the laser illumination, creating NV color centers. Typical photoluminescence (PL) spectra of NV centers could be observed on the illuminated spots. Photon streams from individual photoluminescent points exhibited anti-bunching effect by the second-order correlation measurement, evidencing single and multiple photon-emitters around the laser illuminated spots.

Multiple current peaks in room-temperature atmospheric pressure homogenous dielectric barrier discharge plasma excited by high-voltage tunable nanosecond pulse in air

Room temperature homogenous dielectric barrier discharge plasma with high instantaneous energy efficiency is acquired by using nanosecond pulse voltage with 20–200 ns tunable pulse width. Increasing the voltage pulse width can lead to the generation of regular and stable multiple current peaks in each discharge sequence. When the voltage pulse width is 200 ns, more than 5 organized current peaks can be observed under 26 kV peak voltage. Investigation also shows that the organized multiple current peaks only appear in homogenous discharge mode. When the discharge is filament mode, organized multiple current peaks are replaced by chaotic filament current peaks.

Pattern dynamics and filamentation of femtosecond terawatt laser pulses in air including the higher-order Kerr effects

Plasma defocusing and higher-order Kerr effects on multiple filamentation and pattern formation of ultrashort laser pulse propagation in air are investigated. Linear analyses and numerical results show that these two saturable nonlinear effects can destroy the coherent evolution of the laser field, and small-scale spatial turbulent structures rapidly appear. For the two-dimensional case, numerical simulations show that blow-up-like solutions, spatial chaos, and pseudorecurrence can appear at higher laser intensities if only plasma defocusing is included. These complex patterns result from the stochastic evolution of the higher- or shorter-wavelength modes of the laser light spectrum. From the viewpoint of nonlinear dynamics, filamentation can be attributed to the modulational instability of these spatial incoherent localized structures. Furthermore, filament patterns associated with multiphoton ionization of the air molecules with and without higher-order Kerr effects are compared.

The role of an interface on Ni film removal and surface roughness after irradiation by femtosecond laser pulses

We have observed thin film removal from glass substrates after the irradiation of Ni films with femtosecond laser pulses in air. It was found that the material removal threshold and laser-induced morphology are dependent on film thickness. With decreasing thickness, material removal transitions from intra-film separation to removal at the Ni-glass interface. The Gaussian energy distribution of the laser pulse allows for intra-film separation in the annular region of the crater and interface separation in the center. We propose a model to explain these data as well as the observed increased surface roughness in the interfacial removal regions.

Effect of two-beam coupling in strong-field optical pump-probe experiments

Nonlinear optics experiments measuring phase shifts induced in a weak probe pulse by a strong pump pulse must account for coherent effects that only occur when the pump and probe pulses are temporally overlapped. It is well known that a weak probe beam experiences a greater phase shift from a strong pump beam than the pump beam induces on itself. The physical mechanism behind the enhanced phase shift is diffraction of pump light into the probe direction by a nonlinear refractive index grating produced by interference between the two beams. For an instantaneous third-order response, the effect of the grating is to simply double the probe phase shift, but when delayed nonlinearities are considered, the effect is more complex. A comprehensive treatment is given for both degenerate and nondegenerate pump-probe experiments in noble and diatomic gases. Results of numerical calculations are compared to a recent transient birefringence measurement [Loriot et al., Opt. Express 17, 13429 (2009)] and a recent spectral interferometry experiment [Wahlstrand et al., Phys. Rev. A 85, 043820 (2012)]. We also present results from two new experiments using spectrally-resolved transient birefringence with 800 nm pulses in Ar and air and degenerate chirped pulse spectral interferometry in Ar. Both experiments support the interpretation of the negative birefringence at high intensity as arising from a plasma grating.

Optical UV filament and vortex dynamics

The propagation of high intensity nanosecond UV pulses in air is investigated theoretically and numerically. The stability of localized fundamental and vortex stationary solutions, obtained via Newton’s iterations, are analyzed. Numerical propagation results are provided to corroborate the predicted instabilities of the filament and vortex beams.

Optimization of two parallel wires of laser plasma filaments for channeling electromagnetic energy

We theoretically investigated the electromagnetic wave (EMW) transmission along two parallel wires of laser plasma filaments produced by the filamentation of ultrafast laser pulses in air. Many factors, such as wire diameter and separation, electron density, and operating frequency are shown to influence the propagation loss. By taking into consideration the radiation and transmission effects of the wires, the calculations of the two parallel filament wires reasonably agrees with that of the standard commercial twin-lead wire. Specifically, the optimum separation of the two wires is determined for a given frequency and an effective electron density of the wires. When compared with free-space propagation, transmission enhancement of tens dB is obtained using optimized wire configurations. Thus, the two plasma wires may be a potential channel for point to point directed delivery of EM energy or communication of pulsed-modulated EM radiation.

Microwave guiding in air along single femtosecond laser filament

Microwave guiding along single plasma filament generated through the propagation of femtosecond (fs) laser pulses in air has been demonstrated over a distance of about 6.5 cm, corresponding to a microwave signal intensity enhancement of more than 3-fold over free space propagation. The current propagation distance along the fs laser filament is in agreement with the calculations and limited by the relatively high resistance of the single plasma filament. Using a single fs laser filament to channel microwave radiation considerably alleviate requirements to the power of fs laser pulses compared to the case of the circular filaments waveguide. In addition, it can be used as a simple and non-intrusive method to obtain the basic parameters of laser-generated plasma filament.

Diffuse discharge produced by repetitive nanosecond pulses in open air, nitrogen, and helium

Atmospheric-pressure gas discharge driven by high voltage pulses with fast rise-time and short duration has attracted significant attention for various plasma applications. In this paper, discharges were generated in a highly non-uniform electric field by point-plane gaps in open air by four repetitive nanosecond-pulse generators with repetition rate up to 1 kHz. The rise time of generators was 25 (generator #1), 15 (generator #2), 3 (generator #3), and 0.2 ns (generator #4) and a full width at half maximum was 40, 30-40, 5, and 1 ns, respectively. The experimental results show that there were typical discharge fashions, i.e., corona, diffuse, spark, or arc modes. The variables affecting the discharge characteristics, including the gap spacing and applied pulse parameters, were investigated. Especially, the diffuse discharges were investigated and discussed. With generator #1 at voltage 70-120 kV, characteristics of measured x-rays on the discharge modes were studied, and it indicates that counts of x-rays in a diffuse discharge are up to a peak value under the experimental conditions. With amplitude of voltage pulses in incident wave up to 18 (generator #3) and 12.5 kV (generator #4), runaway electron beam in low pressure helium, nitrogen, and air in a pulse-periodic mode of discharge with repetition rate up to 1 kHz was obtained. Electron beam was registered behind a thin foil in a pressure range from several to tens of Torr. X-ray radiation was obtained in a wide range of pressures, as well as at atmospheric pressure of helium, nitrogen, and air. Voltage pulses of positive and negative polarities were used. Generation of runaway electrons with pulses of positive polarity appeared because of reflected voltage pulses of reverse polarity.

Spectrum superbroadening in self-focusing of pulsed vortex beams in air

Based on numerical simulations, self-focusing of conventional and vortex optical beams produced by femtosecond pulses in air is comparatively analysed. It is shown that, other things being equal, in the case of self-focusing of vortex beams, a significantly higher concentration of energy is observed in the focal spot. As a consequence, there also arises a significant broadening of the space – time spectrum of the focused vortex beam as compared with the vortex-free self-focusing regime. The azimuthal instability of the vortex structure at small initial perturbations of the wave front leads to filamentation of radiation at distances greater than is usually the length of self-focusing.

The interaction of polarized microwaves with planar arrays of femtosecond laser-produced plasma filaments in air

The interaction of polarized microwaves with subwavelength arrays of parallel plasma filaments, such as those produced by the propagation of high-power femtosecond laser pulses in ambient air, was investigated by calculating the reflection and transmission coefficients as a function of the incidence angles using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The time evolution of these coefficients was calculated and compared with experiments. It is found that the plasma filaments array becomes transparent when the polarization of the microwave radiation is perpendicular to the filaments axis, regardless the incidence angle of the microwave with respect to the filaments, except near grazing incidence. Increasing the filaments electron density or diameter, or decreasing the electron collision frequency or filaments spacing, decreases the transmission and increases the reflection. Transmission decreases when increasing the number of filament layers while reflection remains unchanged as the number of filament layers exceeds a given number (∼3 in our case). Transmission slightly increases when disorder is introduced in the filament arrays. The detailed calculation results are compared with those obtained from the simple birefringent slab model, which provides a convenient framework to calculate approximately the properties of filament arrays.

Post-focal filamentation of an externally focused femtosecond laser pulse in air

Self-focusing and filamentation of externally focused ultrashort laser radiation in air are discussed. The influence of initial beam focusing on the filamentation length is numerically studied, and the conditions under which a light filament can resurrect after the linear focus are determined. We have found that the probability of this post-focal filamentation increases with an increase of laser power regardless of the type of filamentation (single/multiple).

Modeling a femtosecond filament array waveguide for guiding pulsed infrared laser radiation

A hollow cylindrical plasma waveguide, which cladding consists of a large number of a chaotically distributed plasma filaments induced by the propagation of femtosecond (fs) laser pulses in air, is shown to support guided modes of pulsed infrared (IR) laser radiation. Taking into account the discontinuity and the finiteness of the waveguide cladding, the loss coefficient loss of the laser radiation is calculated for different spatial configurations. We report how the waveguide loss depends on its structural parameters like normalized plasma diameter, distance between filaments, core-radius, cladding's thickness, and filaments' electron density. For typical plasma parameters, the loss of the fs plasma waveguide is found to be lower than that of freely propagating IR laser beams to distances in the order of the filamentation length. This fact allows the delivery of collimated pulsed laser light over long distances in atmospheric air, which is necessary for optical-based remote sensing and the detection of chemical and biological agents.

Experimental study of filamentation of high-power ultrashort laser pulses with initial angular divergence in air

Experimental study of the nonlinear propagation of near-IR gigawatt femtosecond laser pulses in air in the self-focusing and filamentation regimes have been performed in open air and in laboratory. The influence of the initial geometric divergence (both positive and negative) of the laser beam with an irregular intensity profile on the transverse light energy distribution at the end of the path is studied. It is shown experimentally that the displacement of the filamentation region due to geometric focusing or defocusing, makes it possible to control the number and spatial location of light energy density peaks in the receiving plane. The conditions under which a light filament can be reconstructed after the beam transmission through a linear focal waist are determined. A semi-empirical threshold relation is obtained for the beam focusing force and the beam power, when light beam undergoes filamentation behind the geometric focus of the optical system.

Shockwave and cavitation bubble dynamics of atmospheric air

The generation and evolution of laser induced shock waves (SWs) and the hot core plasma (HCP) created by focusing 7 ns, 532 nm laser pulses in ambient air is studied using time resolved shadowgraphic imaging technique. The dynamics of rapidly expanding plasma releasing SWs into the ambient atmosphere were studied for time delays ranging from nanoseconds to milliseconds with ns temporal resolution. The SW is observed to get detached from expanding HCP at around 3μs. Though the SWs were found to expand spherically following the Sedov-Taylor theory, the rapidly expanding HCP shows asymmetric expansion during both the expansion and cooling phase similar to that of inertial cavitation bubble (CB) dynamics. The asymmetric expansion of HCP leads to oscillation of the plasma boundary, eventually leading to collapse by forming vortices formed by the interaction of ambient air.

CONTROLLING THE REMOTE IONIZATION DISTANCE BY A LINEARLY CHIRPED FEMTOSECOND LASER PULSE IN AIR

In this paper, propagation of a linearly chirped laser pulse in air was investigated to control the remote ionization distance, numerically. Laser spot size and pulse length will be obtained versus effective initial parameters such as positive and negative initial chirp. It is seen that the initial chirp parameter and primary curvature of wave front have important role in focal distance variation and remote ionization. It was also shown that the group velocity dispersion (GVD) could alter and split the positively chirped laser pulse profile after nonlinear self-focusing.

Analysis of microwave leaky modes propagating through laser plasma filaments column waveguide

A plasma column waveguide formed by a bundle of closely spaced plasma filaments induced by the propagation of ultrafast laser pulses in air and revived by a longer infrared laser pulse is shown to support microwave radiation. We consider values of both the plasma electron density and microwave frequency for which the refractive index of plasma is lower than the refractive index of air; therefore, a leaky plasma waveguide can be realized in extremely high frequency band. The guiding mechanism does not require high conductance of the plasma and can be easily excited by using commercial femtosecond laser sources. A theoretical study of leaky mode characteristics of isotropic and homogeneous plasma column waveguides is investigated with several values of plasma and waveguide structure parameters. The microwave transmission loss was found to be mainly caused by the microwave leakage through the air-plasma interface and is weakly dependent on the plasma absorption. In spite of losses of microwaves caused by leakage and plasma absorption, it is shown to be much lower than both that accompanying to surface waves attaching to single conducting plasma wire and the free space propagation over distances in the order of the filament length, which opens exciting perspectives for short distance point to point wireless transmission of pulsed-modulated microwaves.