Transformation of strong picosecond pulses in radiation with an extended quasirotational spectrum during self-focusing in high-pressure hydrogen

Radiation with a spectrum representing a discrete analog of the extended spectrum observed in the generation of a supercontinuum in gases is generated in the self-focusing of 30-ps pulses with a wavelength of 1.06 μ]m in hydrogen at pressures up to 120 atm. The spectrum contains lines with similar intensities, an average frequency spacing approximately equal to the rotational transition frequency in hydrogen (587 cm⁻¹), and a smooth spatial profile. The lines consist of several vibrational-rotational components. As the pressure is increased, the spectral lines are transformed so that at a pressure above 60 atm each line in the spectrum contains one or two components formed as a result of the smaller number of cascade (rotational and vibrational) processes. Self-focusing is manifested in the occurrence of a radiating channel up to 12 cm in length. The formation of a channel of this length is associated mainly with the variation of the refractive index in vibrational excitation of the hydrogen molecules by electrons heated in the pump field. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 479–493 (February 1999)