Tunnel ionization, population trapping, filamentation and applications

The advances in femtosecond Ti-sapphire laser technology have led to the discovery of a profusion of new physics. This review starts with a brief historical account of the experimental realization of tunnel ionization, followed by high harmonic generation and the prediction of attosecond pulses. The...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physics. B, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Atomic, molecular, and optical physics, 2016-11, Vol.49 (22), p.222003
Main Authors: Chin, See Leang, Xu, Huailiang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
filamentation
intense laser field
molecules
population trapping
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Summary:The advances in femtosecond Ti-sapphire laser technology have led to the discovery of a profusion of new physics. This review starts with a brief historical account of the experimental realization of tunnel ionization, followed by high harmonic generation and the prediction of attosecond pulses. Then, the unique phenomenon of dynamic population trapping during the ionization of atoms and molecules in intense laser fields is introduced. One of the consequences of population trapping in the highly excited states is the neutral dissociation into simple molecular fragments which fluoresce. Such fluorescence could be amplified in femtosecond laser filamentation in gases. The experimental observations of filament-induced fluorescence and lasing in the atmosphere and combustion flames are given. Excitation of molecular rotational wave packets (molecular alignment) and their relaxation and revival in a gas filament are described. Furthermore, filament-induced condensation and precipitation inside a cloud chamber is explained. Lastly, a summary and future outlook is given.
ISSN:0953-4075
1361-6455
DOI:10.1088/0953-4075/49/22/222003