Peculiarities of filamentation of sharply focused ultrashort laser pulses in air

Journal Article · Mon Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776110110038· OSTI ID:21443352

Geints, Yu E; Zemlyanov, A A ^[1]; Ionin, A A; Kudryashov, S I; Sinitsyn, D V; Sunchugasheva, E S ^[2]

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1. Russian Academy of Sciences, Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch (Russian Federation)
2. Russian Academy of Sciences, Lebedev Physical Institute (Russian Federation)

Peculiarities of the self-focusing and filamentation of high-power femtosecond laser pulses in air have been experimentally and theoretically studied under conditions of broad variation of the beam focusing parameter. The influence of the numerical aperture (NA) of the initial radiation focusing on the main characteristics of laser-induced plasma columns (characteristic transverse size, length, and concentration of free electrons) is considered. It is established that, for a rigid (NA > 0.05) initial laser beam focusing, the transverse size of the plasma channel ceases to decrease at a level of R{sub pl} {approx} 2-4 {mu}m as a result of strong refraction of radiation on the plasma formed at the focal waist, which prevents further contraction of the laser beam due to its focusing and self-focusing.

• OSTI ID: 21443352
• Journal Information: Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics, Vol. 111, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1134/S1063776110110038; Copyright (c) 2010 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.; ISSN 1063-7761
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
AIR
BEAM-PLASMA SYSTEMS
ELECTRONS
FOCUSING
LASER RADIATION
LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA
PLASMA FILAMENT
PULSES
REFRACTION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
FLUIDS
GASES
LEPTONS
PLASMA
RADIATIONS