The role of refocusing in dynamic X-wave formation during femtosecond laser filamentation in water

<正>With the evolution of a laser pulse in water,the formation of a nonlinear X wave during femtosecond filamentation is investigated based on numerical simulations.In particular,we analyze the far-field angularly resolved spectra obtained for different temporal portions of the ultrashort pulse during its propagation. Our result shows that the refocusing of ultrashort pulse leads to the formation of dynamic X wave which essentially manifests itself as conical emission.     

Transverse instability of optical spatiotemporal solitons in quadratic media

We present experimental and numerical observations of transverse instability in quadratic media under conditions that emphasize the inherently spatiotemporal and multidimensional nature of the wave propagation. Intensity-dependent beam filamentation is shown to be closely connected to the periodic evolution of quadratic solitons, and implications for the generation of three-dimensional spatiotemporal solitons are discussed.     

Characterization of the initial filamentation of a relativistic electron beam passing through a plasma

The linear instability that induces a relativistic electron beam passing through a plasma with return current to filament transversely is often related to some filamentation mode with the wave vector normal to the beam or confused with Weibel modes. We show that these modes may not be relevant in this matter and identify the most unstable mode on the two-stream or filamentation branch as the main trigger for filamentation. This sets both the characteristic transverse and longitudinal filamentation scales in the nonresistive initial stage.     

Amplification of femtosecond laser filaments in Ti:sapphire

Femtosecond laser filamentation is studied in a broadband amplifying medium, sapphire doped with electronically excited Ti ions. Evidence for fluence amplification of self-guided pulses, increase of filamentation length, as well as a lowering of the input laser power necessary for filamentation is reported.     

Interplay of collisions and temperature on the filamentary structures of a relativistic electron beam in plasmas

A systematic study on the Weibel instability induced filamentation of a relativistic electron beam is made by including the effects of collisions and temperature. The stabilization and de-stabilization of the beam filamentation due to beam temperature and plasma collisions, respectively, is explored through an analytical model and PIC simulations. The de-stabilization of the beam filamentation is attributed to the collision driven negative energy wave generation in the beam plasma system.     

Multiple fragmentation of wave packets in a nonlinear medium with normal dispersion of the group velocity

The features of the dynamics of the self-ffects of the wave field are considered for the case when the dynamics is described by the nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NSE) with a hyperbolic spatial operator. An analytical investigation of the characteristic regimes of the self-effects is carried out; these regimes are due to the spatial competition of the self-focusing compression of the wave packet in one direction and its defocusing in another. The initial distributions of the wave field are analyzed with the goal of using them in a numerical modeling for illustration of the features of the self-effects. It is shown that three stages can be discerned in the evolution of the localized distributions: self-focusing filamentation of the wave field in the transverse direction, and compression and subsequent fragmentation in the defocusing (longitudinal) direction. The strongest non-uniformities are excited in the self-similar collapse of the wave field to hyperbolas (to the characteristic curves of the hyperbolic operator of the NSE). The stabilization of the development of the fragmentation instability is discussed separately.     

黑腔中空间束匀滑光束成丝不稳定性的数值模拟北大核心CSCD

为深入研究黑腔内激光成丝不稳定性产生和发展,建立了空间束匀滑光束的传播模型,利用三维激光等离子体相互作用程序LAP3D模拟了黑腔物理条件下的大尺度成丝现象。模拟结果可正确描述成丝后光强的束发散现象及谱空间光强分布特征。从激光能量参数角度分析了导致成丝不稳定性发展的物理因素,并讨论了应用空间束匀滑技术抑制成丝不稳定性的局限性。研究表明:空间束匀滑光束发展成丝的能力取决于光斑内小焦斑的成丝表现,当具备成丝能力的小焦斑份额达到一定比例后,就会导致整个空间束匀滑光束成丝,因此对于光斑平均功率密度较高的光束,须考虑结合其他束匀滑手段来抑制成丝发展。     

利用空心光纤探测飞秒脉冲在氩气中成丝过程中的光谱演变

采用420μm纤芯直径、18cm长的空心光纤作为探测器，在强飞秒激光在氩气中成丝的条件下，研究了成丝不同部位的光谱变化.实验结果表明由于成丝范围内不同部位的脉冲宽度不一样，导致空心光纤位于成丝的不同位置时所获得的光谱展宽也不尽相同.在成丝长度范围内的特定位置可以将50fs入射脉冲最窄压缩至24.8fs.     

Effect of short-wavelength Langmuir turbulence on the Brillouin backscattering and filamentation instabilities in homogeneous plasmas

The Brillouin backscattering and the filamentation instabilities in the presence of short-wavelength Langmuir turbulence are investigated for a homogeneous plasma. Analytical results for the growth rates and thresholds are obtained. It is shown that the threshold for Brillouin backscattering can be significantly increased because of the anomalous damping of ion-acoustic perturbations by Langmuir turbulence. For the filamentation instability an enhancement of the growth rate is obtained. The effect of short-wavelength ion wave turbulence is also discussed.     

Dynamics of traveling waves in the transverse section of a laser

We analyze the general features of the formation and interaction of transverse traveling waves and the appearance of filamentation in broad area semiconductor lasers with current profiling. For small apertures, the emitted profile is symmetric consisting of two counterpropagating transverse traveling waves, both emanating from the center of the device. For larger apertures, the emission becomes asymmetric as one of the traveling waves expands to occupy an increased area while the other occupies the remaining, smaller spatial region. In both devices, the pattern becomes unstable at higher injection currents due to optical filamentation, although an intermediate state is present in the wider device whereby the dominant wave undergoes a Hopf bifurcation before filamentation occurs.     

Supercontinuum generation of ultrashort laser pulses in air at different central wavelengths

Supercontinuum generation by femtosecond filaments in air is investigated for different laser wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet to infrared. Particular attention is paid on the role of third-harmonic generation and temporal steepening effects, which enlarge the blue part of the spectrum. A unidirectional pulse propagation model and nonlinear evolution equations are numerically integrated and their results are compared. Apart from the choice of the central wavelength, we emphasize the importance of the clamped intensity reached by self-guided pulses, together with their temporal duration and propagation length as key players acting on both supercontinuum generation of the pump wave and emergence of the third harmonic. Maximal broadening is observed for large wavelengths and long filamentation ranges.     

Zonal model of nonstationary self-focusing of femtosecond laser radiation in air: effective beam characteristics evolution

The generic scenario of intense femtosecond laser pulse propagation in the air from the viewpoint of evolution of its integral effective parameters (energy transfer coefficient, effective radius, effective duration, limiting angular divergence) is considered. The analysis of variation of the effective parameters along the propagation path in the single and multiply filamentation scenarios based on numerical calculations is presented. It is shown that the process of self-action of the ultrashort radiation is characterized by the formation in a medium of the nonlinearity layer, after which optical pulse propagates quasi-linearly with the limiting angular divergence that depends mainly on initial pulse power. The effective pulse temporal duration and the effective beam radius increase after the passage through the nonlinearity layer, and their values are mostly determined by the initial beam power also. The coefficient of energy transmission of femtosecond laser radiation is lower than in the linear medium and has a tendency to decrease with the increase of the pulse power.     

超强线极化激光在e-p等离子体中传播的成丝不稳定性

基于超强线极化激光在正负电子对(e-p)等离子体中的传播方程,讨论了相互作用过程中的成丝不稳定性。得到了电磁波的非线性色散关系和不稳定性增长率,并讨论了传播过程中激光强度和等离子体温度对成丝不稳定性的影响。结果表明,成丝不稳定性的强弱主要由相互作用的非线性效应与受有质动力作用后等离子体密度的减小之间的竞争所决定。     

Electromagnetically induced transparency in degenerate two-level systems

The evolution of an electromagnetic wave with slowly varying polarization, which interacts resonantly with the medium formed by degenerate two-level atoms, is studied using the wave function approach under the conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency. It is shown that the amplitude of the wave field propagates at the velocity of light in such a medium. The equation obtained for the polarization parameter has a solution in the form of a simple wave. The breaking length is determined. It is shown that the velocity of propagation of polarization waves may be much smaller than the velocity of light. The proposed approach is common for two-level systems with an arbitrary degeneracy. The case of a system with Zeeman degeneracy is analyzed in detail. The dependence of the velocity of propagation of the polarization structure on the amplitude and polarization is determined for an arbitrary level degeneracy. The evolution of the polarization structure in such a medium is discussed.     

Filamentation control in the temperature gradient argon gas

A novel technique of controlling the evolution of the filamentation was experimentally demonstrated in an argon gas-filled tube. The entrance of the filament was heated by a furnace and the other end was cooled with air, which resulted in the temperature gradient distribution along the tube. The experimental results show that multiple filaments are merged into a single filament and then no filament by only increasing the temperature at the entrance of the filament. Also, the filament can appear and disappear after increasing the local temperature and input pulse energy in turn. This technique offers another degree of freedom to control the filamentation and opens a new way for multi-mJ level monocycle pulse generation through filamentation in the noble gas.     

Processing materials in the mode of multiple filamentation of femtosecond laser radiation

Results are presented from experimental studies of the filamentation of femtosecond laser radiation in a transparent medium. Schemes for registering plasma channels of filaments, conical emission, and the spatial distribution of radiation intensity are provided. The results from laser action on a target of stainless steel in the multiple filamentation mode.     

Filamentation of ultrashort light pulses in a liquid scattering medium

We have studied filamentation of 1-ps laser pulses in a scattering medium (aqueous suspension of 2-μm polystyrene microspheres) and compared filamentation dynamics to that in pure water. Our results indicate that light scattering does not alter filamentation dynamics in general, but rather results in farther position of the nonlinear focus, shorter filament length, and the development of speckle structure in the peripheral part of the beam. The experimental observations are qualitatively reproduced by the numerical model which accounts for diffraction, self-focusing, multiphoton absorption, and light scattering introduced through a stochastic diffusion and diffraction term.     

Statistical characteristics of an intense wave behind a two-dimensional phase screen

An analysis of the parameters of nonlinear waves transmitted through a layer of a randomly inhomogeneous medium is carried out. The layer is modeled by a two-dimensional phase screen. Passing through the screen plane, the wave acquires a random phase shift. The wave front becomes distorted, and randomly located regions of ray convergence and divergence are formed, in which the nonlinear evolution of the wave alters profoundly. The problem is solved in the approximation of geometrical acoustics. The ray pattern of a plane wave transmitted through the regular screen is constructed. The solution that describes the spatial structure of the field and the evolution of an arbitrary temporal wave profile behind the screen is obtained. Statistical characteristics of the discontinuity amplitude are calculated for different distances from the screen. A random modulation is shown to result in a faster (in comparison with the case of a homogeneous medium) nonlinear attenuation of the wave and in the smoothing of the shock profile. The distribution function of the wave field parameters becomes broader because of random focusing effects.     

多光子非线性Compton散射对激光等离子体中强朗缪尔湍动谱的影响

 基于电子与多光子集团非线性Compton散射模型,研究了多光子非线性Compton散射对激光等离子体中强缪尔湍动谱的影响,提出了将入射光和散射光作为形成强缪尔湍动的新机制,给出了横等离激元、强朗缪尔激元和离声激元之间相互作用满足的修正方程,并进行了数值模拟.结果表明:Compton散射使横等离激元和朗缪尔激元间的碰撞频率大大增加,随着时间的演化,横等离激元和朗缪尔激元的能量由小波数区向大波数区的转移比散射前要快得多,同时产生剧烈的坍塌.坍塌后期,等离激元的强非线性作用激发出高次共振谐波,使能量从一个谐波转移到另一个谐波,形成无限高次谐波,引起波的破碎,出现由调制不稳定性控制的强朗缪尔湍动、较强的激光成丝和能量均分现象.研究结果为进一步研究强朗缪尔湍动的加速机制、反常碰撞、激光加热实验及快点火实验提供了理论支持.