Nonlinear propagation of femtosecond pulses in bulk media

Femtosecond pulse lasers are finding widespread application in a variety of fields. As the number of applications for femtosecond pulses increases, so does the need to fully understand propagation of these pulses under a variety of conditions. Recent advances in pulse measurement techniques, such as frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG), allow simultaneous measurement of both intensity and phase of a pulse and have made detailed investigations of propagation effects feasible. In this talk, we will present detailed experimental and theoretical studies of our work on nonlinear propagation of femtosecond pulses in bulk media. For these experiments, we employ the output of an amplified Ti:sapphire laser system