Formation of Optical and Plasma Filaments by Short, Intense, Finite Quality Laser Pulses

Summary form only given. The nonlinear properties of materials such as fused silica, air, and water can significantly affect the propagation of short, intense laser pulses. Self-focusing, ionization and filamentation of the laser pulse can take place. In addition, the propagation of the laser pulse is affected by a number of other processes including laser quality (M-squared), turbulence, and the arrangement of optical elements (e.g., tilted lenses) in the propagation path. Using the fully 3-D, time-dependent, nonlinear NRL propagation code HELCAP, we analyze the formation of optical and plasma filaments in the presence of these processes. In particular, we present results for laser pulses of finite quality passing through lenses of arbitrary orientation and propagation through a turbulent medium