The comparison study of diagnostics of light filaments in air

Long plasma channels in air induced by femtosecond laser pulses are investigated using three different methods, including the cross-section imaging, resistivity measuring and acoustic diagnostics. These methods are based on different properties of the light filaments. A comparison of the three diagnostics shows that the imaging method is the most precise one in studying the filaments distribution and evolution, that the sonographic method is the most convenient approach to detecting long plasma channels by detecting the acoustic wave generation, and that the resistivity measurement can only be applied for giving a rough estimate. The diagnostics of filaments allow us to choose appropriate detecting methods and provide further insight into the dynamic evolution of the light filaments in air.     

空气中飞秒激光等离子体荧光辐射光谱研究

系统地研究了不同聚焦条件下飞秒激光空气等离子体的荧光辐射特性以及空间演化情况.在紧聚焦情况下,由于焦点附近比较高的激光强度以及比较高的电子密度,辐射光谱表现为连续谱和线状原子光谱的叠加.在弱聚焦情况下,辐射光谱主要由很多分子线谱组成,而没有观测到连续谱的产生.还研究了光谱谱线强度随激光传输距离的演化情况,结果显示,光谱谱线的强度变化在一定程度上间接反映了等离子体细丝的演化情况.     

飞秒光丝中等离子体密度时间演化特征

采用能够较为清晰、完整描述强飞秒激光等离子体通道内带电粒子产生过程及其演化的物理模型,进一步研究了飞秒光丝中等离子体密度的时间演化特征。计算结果表明：对于不同时间线型的脉冲,在等离子体通道形成过程中,氧气分子的电离贡献率及氮气分子的贡献率明显不同,不同线型的脉冲对高效维持高密度等离子体的寿命具有较大的影响。有效控制成丝脉冲线型能够达到对等离子体通道的高效利用。长脉冲、短波长虽能够获得较高密度等离子体通道,但其存活寿命却完全受限于通道的后期演化。     

飞秒光丝中等离子体密度时间演化特征

采用能够较为清晰、完整描述强飞秒激光等离子体通道内带电粒子产生过程及其演化的物理模型,进一步研究了飞秒光丝中等离子体密度的时间演化特征。计算结果表明:对于不同时间线型的脉冲,在等离子体通道形成过程中,氧气分子的电离贡献率及氮气分子的贡献率明显不同,不同线型的脉冲对高效维持高密度等离子体的寿命具有较大的影响。有效控制成丝脉冲线型能够达到对等离子体通道的高效利用。长脉冲、短波长虽能够获得较高密度等离子体通道,但其存活寿命却完全受限于通道的后期演化。     

Interaction of light filaments generated by femtosecond laser pulses in air

The interaction of two light filaments propagating in air is simulated. Simulations show that the interaction of the two light filaments displays interesting features such as attraction, fusion, repulsion, and spiral propagation, depending on the relative phase shift and the crossing angle between them. A long and stable channel can be formed by fusing two in-phase light filaments. The channel becomes unstable with the increase of the crossing angle and phase shift. The interaction of two light filaments in different planes is studied and the spiral propagation is observed.     

不同能量下环形高斯强激光光束在空气中的非线性传输

以线性传输模型为对比研究了不同初始能量的环形光束在空气中的非线性传输。结果显示,在传输初始阶段,非线性克尔效应减弱了线性空间啁啾导致的聚焦作用。线性聚焦使能量向光轴方向流动导致强光强核心,在光轴附近生成类高斯脉冲结构,增强了非线性自聚焦效应,导致光强急剧增加形成光丝。环形光束的初始能量的大小能够影响自聚焦焦距、光丝长度和光强通量。自聚焦焦距随着初始脉冲能量的增加而减小,但自聚焦焦距与初始功率的开方不成反比（这点与高斯光束不同）。光丝长度随着初始脉冲能量的增加而增加。轴上光强通量随初始脉冲能量的增加而增加。     

飞秒光丝阵列对10 GHz电磁波的吸收特性

为了研究飞秒光丝阵列对10 GHz电磁波的吸收特性,建立了飞秒光丝阵列吸收电磁波的有限元模型,研究了光丝内电子温度、电子数密度、光丝直径和电磁波的极化等参数对吸收系数的影响。研究结果表明：当电磁波偏振方向与光丝轴向垂直时,阵列对电磁波是透明的;增加光丝内电子数密度或提高电子温度,吸收系数先增大后减小;当光丝直径与电磁波趋肤深度相等时,吸收系数达到最大值。对于S极化电磁波,当光丝直径为50 μm时,吸收系数随入射角的增大而变大;当光丝直径为100~200 μm时,在入射角较小时,吸收系数随入射角的增大而变大;在入射角较大时会出现吸收峰值,最高可达0.45,且光丝直径越大,吸收峰值对应的入射角就越小;对于P极化电磁波,吸收系数随入射角增大而降低。     

飞秒激光空气等离子体发射光谱的实验研究

对强飞秒激光聚焦在空气中所激发的等离子体的发射光谱进行了实验研究.结果表明,光谱特征表现为短波段(截至波长为340 nm)强烈的连续谱和长波段(波长在800 nm附近)强度相对较低的线光谱.在脉冲宽度(50 fs)保持不变而不断调节激光脉冲能量时,等离子体光谱形状的特征基本相似;当激光脉冲能量(1 mJ)保持不变而脉冲宽度从50 fs增加至500 fs和1 ps时,连续谱的峰值(500 nm)显得格外突出,并开始呈现出线光谱特征. 关键词： 飞秒激光 激光空气等离子体 发射光谱 线光谱     

Determination of the temporal structure of femtosecond laser pulses by means of laser-induced air plasma

A new approach is presented to reveal the temporal structure of femtosecond laser pulses by recording the corresponding time-resolved shadowgraphs of the laser-induced air plasma. It is shown that the temporal structures of femtosecond laser pulses, normally not observable by the ordinary intensity autocorrelator, can be detected through intuitively analyzing the ultrafast evolution process of the air plasma induced by the femtosecond laser pulses under examination. With this method, existence of pre- and post-pulses has been clearly unveiled within the time window of ±150 fs in reference with the main 50-fs laser pulses output from a commercial 1-kHz femtosecond laser amplifier. The unique advantage of the proposed method is that it can directly provide valuable information about the pulse temporal structures' effect on the laser-induced ionization or material ablation.     

Polarization-dependent supercontinuum generation from light filaments in air

We investigate polarization-dependent properties of the supercontinuum emission generated from filaments produced by intense femtosecond laser pulses propagating through air over a long distance. The conversion efficiency from the 800-nm fundamental to white light is observed to be higher for circular polarization than for linear polarization when the laser intensity exceeds the threshold of the breakdown of air.     

高强度飞秒激光脉冲在空气中的自压缩

利用高重复频率（1kHz）、吉瓦级飞秒激光脉冲实验验证了高强度飞秒脉冲在空气中的自 压缩现象，研究了入射脉冲在不同初始啁啾情况下经空气中聚焦成丝后，时域及频域特性随 入射脉冲能量的变化规律.实验结果表明，在无需后继色散补偿情况下，高强度飞秒脉冲仅 通过在空气中的非线性传输过程就可以实现脉冲压缩；在入射脉冲为负啁啾情况下，实验观 察到脉冲光谱及时域宽度同时得到压缩，并可获得比激光源所能提供的更短的近双曲正割型 变换限脉冲. 关键词： 高强度飞秒激光脉冲 自压缩 自聚焦     

Interaction of femtosecond light filaments with obscurants in aerosols

The interaction of ultrashort laser pulses with opaque droplets in the atmosphere is examined numerically. Intense filaments resulting from the balance between self-focusing and ionization of air molecules are shown to be robust against obscurants sized up to 2/3 of the filament diameter. (3D+1)-dimensional numerical simulations confirm recent experimental data [F. Courvoisier et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 83, 213 (2003)]. The filament is rapidly rebuilt with minimal loss of energy over a few cm after the interaction region. The replenishment of the pulse mainly proceeds from the nonlinear attractor responsible for the formation of a spatial soliton modeling the filament core.     

Triggering and guiding of high voltage discharge by using femtosecond laser filaments with different parameters

This paper demonstrates the triggering and guiding of the stationary high voltage (HV) discharges at 5--40 kV by using plasma filaments generated by femtosecond laser pulses in air. A significant reduction of the breakdown voltage threshold due to the pre-ionization of the air gap by laser filamentation is observed. The discharge experiments are performed by using laser pulses with different energy from 15--60 mJ. The electron density of filaments is detected by sonography method. The influence of the electron density of laser filaments on the triggering and guiding HV discharge is experimentally investigated. The results have shown that the behaviour of plasma filaments can strongly affect the efficiency of triggering and guiding HV discharge.     

飞秒激光在空气和水中对硅片烧蚀加工的实验研究

采用1 kHz,800 nm,50 fs—24 ps的钛宝石激光脉冲对单晶硅样品在空气和水溶液环境中的烧蚀加工特性进行了研究.实验观察到了超短脉冲激光在空气氛围中烧蚀形成的双层环状结构,分析揭示了加工区域中心和边缘的烧蚀物理机制分别为热熔化和库仑爆炸,并测量了双层环状结构半径随入射激光能量、脉冲数及持续时间等的变化关系,结果表明获取较大深-宽比的加工效果需选择小能量脉冲激光的多次作用.在水溶液环境中,实验发现飞秒激光在样品表面诱导产生了亚微米量级的多孔状结构,而皮秒激光则更容易实现对硅表面的非热性去除.这是由于激光诱导的光机械应力和空泡效应随脉冲宽度变大而增强所致,在实验上确立了区分这两种不同加工状态的临界脉冲宽度. 关键词： 飞秒激光 硅片 激光加工     

110 GHz微波电离大气产生等离子体过程的理论研究

将描述电磁波的Maxwell方程组和简化的等离子体流体方程组耦合数值求解,对110 GHz微波电离大气产生等离子体的过程进行了理论研究. 研究发现:在高气压下等离子体成丝状;中等气压下等离子体先成丝状,在向微波源移动的过程中逐渐向连续的等离子体区域过渡;低气压下电离产生连续的等离子体区域. 不同气压下等离子体区域都向微波源方向移动. 初始电子数密度分布只影响放电初始阶段的等离子体区域形状,不会影响成丝与否. 等离子体区域在垂直于电场方向和平行于电场方向的移动规律不同. 当电场平行于计算平面时,由于沿着电场方向等离子体两端存在强场区,等离子体区域被拉长,在较低的气压下会出现等离子体丝阵. 关键词： 110 GHz微波 大气电离 等离子体丝阵     

利用纯相位型液晶空间光调制器实现空心光束

为了提高激光系统的整体效率,需要将出射光强整形为空心分布。采用纯相位型液晶空间光调制器整形近高斯分布光强到空心分布。基于能量守恒定律和等光程原理,分析了纯相位型液晶空间光调制器光束整形系统,得出了整形系统所需的相位分布。采用衍射光学方法,数值模拟了整形效果,讨论了入射光束束腰半径和强度分布等因素对整形效果的影响。利用纯相位型液晶空间光调制器实验实现了空心光束,实验测得的转换效率大于99%。     

超短强激光作用下空气的三次谐波辐射

进行了飞秒强激光与自由空气和充气毛细管相互作用产生三次谐波的实验研究，成功地获得了功率达0.17GW、重复频率为10Hz的紫外三次谐波信号，谐波的转换效率达到0.04%。对自由空气和充气毛细管中的谐波转换效率和谐波空间分布特性进行了比较。实验表明微毛细管虽然使谐波转换效率略有降低，但能有效地改善谐波的空间分布，使其更好地满足实际应用的需要。     

The critical laser intensity of self-guided light filaments in air

The critical intensity inside plasma filaments generated in air by high-power, ultra-short laser pulses is estimated analytically and compared to recent experimental data. The result, I_crit≈4×10¹³ W/cm², is highly relevant for atmospheric applications. Received 18 August 2000 / Published online: 8 November 2000