Dynamics of femtosecond filamentation from saturation of self-focusing laser pulses
- Centre de Physique Theorique, CNRS UMR 7644, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau, (France)
An interpretation is proposed for the dynamics of light filaments formed when a femtosecond laser pulse propagates in air. The pulse evolves as a set of coupled nonlinear oscillators forming a coherent structure over several Rayleigh lengths. The plasma generated by photoionization is numerically shown to be the single saturation mechanism of the beam self-focusing. Other physical processes such as group velocity dispersion and the quintic susceptibility {chi}{sup (5)} for the polarization promote different propagation regimes. From theoretical expressions of the oscillation period for the spatial profile of the pulse, we show that the electron density in a femtosecond filament may be estimated.
- OSTI ID:
- 20639986
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 68; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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