Title :
Direct measurements of the dynamics of self-guided femtosecond laser filaments in air
Author :
Gordon, Daniel F. ; Ting, Antonio C. ; Alexeev, Ilya ; Fischer, Richard P. ; Sprangle, Phillip
Author_Institution :
Plasma Phys. Div., Naval Res. Lab., Washington, DC, USA
fDate :
4/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Imaging of femtosecond laser filaments is accomplished by utilizing a recently developed diagnostic which is not damaged by the filaments and which greatly reduces the nonlinearities in the detection system. This calibrated detection system allows quantities such as the filament energy and fluence distribution to be determined with greater detail, accuracy, and confidence than was previously possible. The diagnostic is placed on a rail so that filament images can be obtained at a large number of positions along the propagation path. It is found that filaments formed from 450-fs pulses carry higher fluence and propagate farther than filaments formed from 50-fs pulses.
Keywords :
filamentation instability; high-speed optical techniques; plasma diagnostics; plasma light propagation; plasma nonlinear processes; plasma production by laser; 450 fs; 50 fs; detection system nonlinearities; filament energy; filamentation instability; fluence distribution; laser-plasma interaction; self-guided femtosecond laser filaments; Charge coupled devices; Charge-coupled image sensors; Helium; Nonlinear optics; Optical propagation; Optical pulses; Optical refraction; Optical variables control; Plasma measurements; Ultrafast optics; Air propagation; filamentation; laser–plasma interaction; ultrashort pulses;
Journal_Title :
Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TPS.2006.872179
