Béjot P, Kasparian J, Henin S, Loriot V, Vieillard T, Hertz E, Faucher O, Lavorel B, Wolf JP. Higher-order Kerr terms allow ionization-free filamentation in gases.
Phys Rev Lett 2010;
104:103903. [PMID:
20366427 DOI:
10.1103/physrevlett.104.103903]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2009] [Revised: 02/08/2010] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
We show that higher-order nonlinear indices (n(4), n(6), n(8), n(10)) provide the main defocusing contribution to self-channeling of ultrashort laser pulses in air and argon at 800 nm, in contrast with the previously accepted mechanism of filamentation where plasma was considered as the dominant defocusing process. Their consideration allows us to reproduce experimentally observed intensities and plasma densities in self-guided filaments.
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