Transition from linear-to nonlinear-focusing regime in filamentation

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    Sci Rep

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Crim. Justice Behav.

    Keywords

    FEMTOSECOND LASER-PULSES; AIR; PROPAGATION; RANGE; LIGHT; POWER; Multidisciplinary Sciences

    Abstract

    Laser filamentation in gases is often carried out in the laboratory with focusing optics to better stabilize the filament, whereas real-world applications of filaments frequently involve collimated or near-collimated beams. It is well documented that geometrical focusing can alter the properties of laser filaments and, consequently, a transition between a collimated and a strongly focused filament is expected. Nevertheless, this transition point has not been identified. Here, we propose an analytical method to determine the transition, and show that it corresponds to an actual shift in the balance of physical mechanisms governing filamentation. In high-NA conditions, filamentation is primarily governed by geometrical focusing and plasma effects, while the Kerr nonlinearity plays a more significant role as NA decreases. We find the transition between the two regimes to be relatively insensitive to the intrinsic laser parameters, and our analysis agrees well with a wide range of parameters found in published literature.

    Subjects

    K. Lim; M. Durand; M. Baudelet;M. Richardson

    Volume

    4

    Publication Date

    1-1-2014

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    8

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000346257100001

    ISSN

    2045-2322

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