Remote sensing of pollutants using femtosecond laser pulse fluorescence spectroscopy

The fluorescence spectrum of ethanol molecules induced by femtosecond laser pulses has been recorded as the fingerprint of the molecules. It was demonstrated that, if this is combined with a LIDAR technique, the fluorescence from pollutants in the atmosphere could be detected over a long distance. PACS 42.68.Wt; 42.62.Fi; 42.65.Re     

Ultrabroadband conical emission generated from the ultraviolet up to the far-infrared during the optical filamentation in air

Ultraviolet and infrared conical emissions were observed during the filamentation in air of powerful femtosecond laser pulses produced by a portable terawatt laser system. The broadband spectrum was measured from 200 nm up to 14 microm and covered the complete optical transmission window of the atmosphere. The angularly resolved spectrum showed some X-wave structure across the frequency range analyzed. However, we demonstrated that the strong conical emission observed in the mid- and far-infrared is mainly owing to the four-wave mixing between the pump pulse and its blueshifted conical emission.     

Filamentation “remote” sensing of chemical and biological agents/pollutants using only one femtosecond laser source

All matters in the path of filaments induced by an intense femtosecond laser pulse propagating in air could be fragmented and result in the emission of characteristic fluorescence spectra from the excited fragments. The fluorescence spectra exhibit specific signatures (fingerprints) that can be used for the identification of various substances including chemical and biological species. In this paper, we present an overview of the recent progress in our laboratory concerning the “remote” sensing of chemical and biological agents/pollutants in air using filamentation-induced nonlinear fluorescence techniques.     

Towards a new class of ferroelectric liquid crystal molecules for nonlinear optical applications

The synthesis of a new molecule specifically designed to exhibit both ferroelectric and nonlinear optical properties is presented. This molecule possesses an optically active phenyl sulphinic group, which introduces a dipole moment directly linked to the chromophore group, with a nitro group in the meta -position. The rest of the molecule comprises a tolane and a benzoate group. Such a structure results in an enantiotropic smectic C*-smectic A phase sequence in its polymorphism. A first measurement of the spontaneous polarization shows a high value. The polymorphism of the racemic homologous molecule possessing the nitro group in the ortho-position is also presented, and also shows the smectic C-smectic A phase sequence.     

What is a filament?

By using intensity clamping as a guideline for the definition of a filament, we propose that a filament is the propagation core where plasma is generated.     

Filamentation nonlinear optics

A filamenting femtosecond laser pulse self-stabilizes the intensity fluctuation inside the filament core due to intensity clamping and generates an excellent spatial beam quality inside the core due to self-spatial filtering. The high quality of the core can be sampled by nonlinear processes. A few experimental examples are shown: self-phase modulation, four-wave mixing, third-harmonic generation and waveguide writing in glass. PACS 42.65.Jx; 52.35.Mw     

Ultrafast laser-induced melting of glass

The interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with wide band-gap fused silica and quartz is investigated. It is shown that during target irradiation, melting of SiO₂ occurs. Laser pulses with fluences above the damage threshold induce partial phase transition of fused silicia into quartz and vice-versa. PACS 42.62.-b; 61.46.+w; 81.30.Hd     

Background reservoir: its crucial role for long-distance propagation of femtosecond laser pulses in air

We report an experiment to demonstrate the crucial effect of the so-called background reservoir during the propagation of femtosecond laser pulses in air. The background reservoir was blocked by allowing only the filament to pass through a pinhole generated by the filament itself in an aluminum foil. We observed that the filamentation process is terminated immediately after the pinhole. Consequently, to achieve long-range filamentation, it is necessary to maintain the dynamic energy exchange between the reservoir and the self-foci.     

Pion-nucleon scattering in the Brown-Rho bag model

Pion-nucleus scattering in the (3,3) resonance region is described using a version of the Brown-Rho bag model. Terms involving iterations of the crossed Born graphs, as well as excitation of the three-quark delta, both give significant contributions to the scattering amplitude.