Femtosecond filamentation in turbulent air

The influence of air turbulence on femtosecond laser filamentation is studied experimentally and numerically for laser powers of a few critical powers. Air turbulence in the path of the beam prior to filamentation induces a large pointing and formation instability attributed to an increase of the se...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Atomic, molecular, and optical physics, 2008-09, Vol.78 (3), Article 033804
Main Authors: Houard, A., Franco, M., Prade, B., Durécu, A., Lombard, L., Bourdon, P., Vasseur, O., Fleury, B., Robert, C., Michau, V., Couairon, A., Mysyrowicz, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Optics
Physics
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Summary:The influence of air turbulence on femtosecond laser filamentation is studied experimentally and numerically for laser powers of a few critical powers. Air turbulence in the path of the beam prior to filamentation induces a large pointing and formation instability attributed to an increase of the self-focusing distance and higher modulational instability in the presence of turbulence. By contrast, previously formed filaments are robust both in terms of beam pointing accuracy and survival when crossing turbulent air.
ISSN:1050-2947
1094-1622
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevA.78.033804