Multiple filamentation of femtosecond laser pulses

The formation of fluorescent channels with color centers in LiF crystals under the action of the multiple filamentation of femtosecond laser pulses is studied experimentally and theoretically for pulse powers around four orders of magnitude higher than the critical self-focusing value.     

Multiple filamentation of intense femtosecond laser pulses in air

The propagation of focused femtosecond laser pulses with supercritical peak powers in air has been investigated by the methods of optical visualization, profilometry, and calorimetry. Laser pulses with supercritical powers create a bundle of submillimeter filaments with a diameter of about 5 μm ahead of the lens focus; the maximum number of filaments in the beam cross section and their length increase linearly and sublinearly, respectively, with the radiation peak power. The optical visualization and calorimetry indicate that the plasma channels of filaments are optical contrast (a plasma density of 10¹⁸–10¹⁹ cm⁻³), ensuring the refraction of laser radiation incident on them.     

Shock-wave generation upon axicon focusing of femtosecond laser radiation in transparent dielectrics

It is shown experimentally that the axicon focusing of intense femtosecond laser pulses in transparent dielectrics leads to efficient excitation of shock waves. A method is developed for measuring the dynamics of shock waves, which uses a frequency-chirped probe pulse and has high spatial (～1 μm) and time (～10 ps) resolutions. The initial stage of the evolution of an intense (up to 10 GPa) shock wave is studied by this method.     

Polarization-dependent femtosecond laser filamentation in air

We report on a systematic study of the laser polarization effect on a femtosecond laser filamentation in air.By changing the laser's ellipticity from linear polarization to circular polarization, the onset position of laser filament formation becomes farther from the focusing optics, the filament length is shorter, and less laser energy is deposited. The laser polarization effect on air filaments is supported by a simulation and analysis of the polarization-dependent critical power and ionization rates in air.     

Infrared extension of femtosecond supercontinuum generated by filamentation in solid-state media

We carried out experimental and numerical study of the ultrafast supercontinuum generation by filamentation of 120 fs, 800 nm laser pulses in sapphire under variable focusing conditions. We demonstrate that the supercontinuum spectra produced in loose focusing conditions have much larger infrared extent, while the spectral blueshift remains fairly the same. Our numerical simulations reproduce the experimental results in great detail and disclose that the input beam focusing conditions affect only the nonlinear propagation of the leading sub-pulse, which emerges after the pulse splitting event, and which is responsible for the redshifted spectral broadening.     

平顶飞秒激光经圆锥透镜在熔融石英中成丝及超连续辐射

实验研究了平顶飞秒激光经圆锥透镜后在熔融石英中的成丝及超连续辐射.与高斯飞秒激光的成丝对比发现,平顶飞秒激光可以获得在圆锥透镜焦深区域内强度分布更为均匀的等离子体细丝,这一特征更有利于飞秒激光在固体介质中进行微纳加工等领域的应用.并且,在不损伤熔融石英的条件下,平顶飞秒激光成丝可以获得更高能量、更高转换效率的超连续辐射,这是因为若产生光强相近的细丝,平顶飞秒激光所需的初始激光能量更高,此激光能量下产生的细丝长度更长、均匀性更好.     

External focusing dependence of spatial distribution of air lasers during femtosecond laser filamentation in air

The spatial distribution of the forward-propagating amplified spontaneous emission(ASE) of nitrogen molecular ions during femtosecond laser filamentation in air is studied via numerical simulations. The results suggest that the divergence angle and signal intensity are extremely sensitive to the external focal length. Concurrently, we show that the optical Kerr effect plays a significant role in concentrating the directivity of ASE signals, particularly in cases of loose focusing. Furthermore,the simulations demonstrate that ASE signals are enhanced for a tight focus, although the corresponding filament length is shorter. The main physical mechanism underlying this process is the competition between the plasma defocusing and optical Kerr effects. The result is important for filamentation-based light detection and ranging applied to remote sensing.     

Turbulence-induced beam wandering during femtosecond laser filamentation

The influence of air turbulence on the transverse wandering of a single femtosecond laser filament is studied by numerical simulation.The results show that the average transverse displacement of the single filament(δr} is proportional to the square root of turbulent structure constant and the relations between δr and the propagation distance can be fit by a power function.In addition,by using an axicon as a focusing optics,the wandering of a single filament is suggested to be stronger than the free-propagation case.     

Wavelength division with three-dimensional couplers fabricated by filamentation of femtosecond laser pulses

Refractive-index changes can be induced by filamentation of 800-nm, 1-kHz femtosecond laser pulses in silica glass. Two-dimensional translation of a 40-microm-long filament leads to the formation of a curved waveguide because of bending by the previously induced refractive-index change. The fabrication of 2-mm directional couplers to split the coupled beam into 1:1 at a wavelength of 632.8 nm is demonstrated. The realization of three-dimensional directional couplers and wavelength division in the output from the couplers is also demonstrated.     

Intense broadband THz generation from femtosecond laser filamentation

Broadband and energetic terahertz (THz) pulses can be remotely generated in air through filamentation. We review such THz generation and detection in femtosecond Ti-sapphire laser induced remote filaments. New results are presented on the direct relationship between THz generation in a two color filament and induced N2 fluorescence through population trapping during molecular alignment and revival in air. This further supports the new technique of remote THz detection in air through the sensitive measurement of N2 fluorescence.     

Micro-ablation on silicon by femtosecond laser pulses focused with an axicon assisted with a lens

Micro-ablation of crystalline silicon was performed by irradiating a silicon substrate with femtosecond laser pulses of wavelengths 786 nm or 393 nm focused using a conical axicon assisted with a convex lens. Focusing the laser beam close to the tip of the axicon by means of the lens significantly improved the efficiency of concentration of laser pulse energy at the central spot of the resulting Bessel-Gaussian intensity distribution. As a result, micron-sized holes were formed with the diameter determined by the ablation threshold in the calculated fluence profile. It is possible to predict hole size from the laser pulse energy and the wavelength. Crystalline particles, a few tens of nanometers in size, were formed near the ablated zone.     

Generation of terahertz radiation by the axicon focusing of ionizing laser pulses

Experimental results on the generation of terahertz radiation in the gas breakdown by high-power quasi-monochromatic laser pulses focused by an axicon lens are presented. A theoretical model developed for the terahertzradiation generation includes the nonlinear interaction of a femtosecond pulse with an ionized gas and the excitation of transverse oscillations of the plasma column. The results of the theoretical analysis are compared with the experimental data.     

Generation of terahertz radiation by the axicon focusing of ionizing laser pulses

JETP Letters - Experimental results on the generation of terahertz radiation in the gas breakdown by high-power quasi-monochromatic laser pulses focused by an axicon lens are presented. A...     

Intensity clamping during laser filamentation by TW level femtosecond laser in air and argon

A systematic research on intensity clamping phenomenon was conducted both in air and argon by using a TW level femtosecond laser. Though the laser peak power was increased from 0.1 up to 1.5 TW in the experiment, highly stabilized peak intensity inside the filament was observed in both gases. The peak intensities inside filaments were experimentally determined to be about 6.4 × 10¹³ W/cm² (f = 20 cm) in air and 1.2, 1.3, and 1.7 × 10¹⁴ W/cm² when different focal lenses (f = 100, 60, and 20 cm) were used in argon, respectively.     

Mesoscopic nanomaterials generated by interfering femtosecond laser processing

Mesoscopic nanomaterials with a size ranging from a few nanometers to hundreds of nanometers were generated on a metallic thin film by interfering femtosecond (fs) laser processing. Because the nanomaterials seemed to demonstrate liquid behavior, we named their structure nano water drop. The structure is considerably similar to that of a real water drop observed with a high-speed camera. Using the phase shift between interfering beams, a duplicate structure was generated. This is a new surface modification technique, using a top-down approach.     

Pulse characterization during femtosecond laser filamentation in air by two-photon fluorescence measurement

This work reports a temporal characteristic of a laser pulse undergoing filamentation in air. The diagnostic method is based on two-photon fluorescence measurement. The results show that the pulse duration, chirp rate and beam radius could be simultaneously quantitatively retrieved. This simple technique would be useful in practice to trace the underlying dynamics of filamentation in air.     

圆顶轴棱锥产生多个局域空心光束

首次提出圆顶轴棱锥这一新型光学元件.由衍射理论分析了平面波通过圆顶轴棱锥后的光场强度分布,用软件对光强分布进行仿真.结果表明,平行光通过圆顶轴棱锥后可以形成多个局域空心光束(bottle beam),由于球面波能量在焦点附近高度集中,所得的bottle beam在焦点附近强度极大.通过仿真对比得知用圆顶轴棱锥产生的bottlebeam的暗域周围光强远大于用两束Bessel光束干涉所得,大幅度提高了bottle beam囚禁粒子的效率.通过比较这两种方法产生的bottle beam对粒子囚禁的散射力,证实了圆顶轴棱锥产生bottle beam在粒子囚禁方面更具优势.