Extending femtosecond filamentation of high power laser propagating in the atmosphere

Shmuel Eisenmann*, Yonatan Sivan, Gadi Fibich, Arie Zigler

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

We show experimentally for ultrashort laser pulses propagating in air, that the filamentation distance of intense laser pulses in the atmosphere can be extended and controlled with a simple double-lens setup. Using this method we were able to achieve a 20-fold delay of the filamentation distance of non-chirped 120 fs pulses propagating in air, from 16 m to 330 m. At 330 m, the collapsing pulse is sufficiently powerful to create plasma filaments. We also show that the scatter of the filaments at 330 m can be significantly reduced by tilting the second lens. We derive a simple formula for the filamentation distance, and confirm its agreement with the experimental results. We also observe that delaying the onset of filamentation increases the filament length. To the best of our knowledge, this is the longest distance reported in the literature at which plasma filaments were created and controlled. Finally, we show that the peak power at the onset of collapse is significantly higher with the double-lens setup, compared with the standard negative chirping approach.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationLaser-Driven Relativistic Plasmas Applied for Science, Industry, and Medicine - The 1st International Symposium
Pages257-272
Number of pages16
DOIs
StatePublished - 2008
Event1st International Symposium on Laser-Driven Relativistic Plasmas Applied for Science, Industry, and Medicine - Kyoto, Japan
Duration: 17 Sep 200720 Sep 2007

Publication series

NameAIP Conference Proceedings
Volume1024
ISSN (Print)0094-243X
ISSN (Electronic)1551-7616

Conference

Conference1st International Symposium on Laser-Driven Relativistic Plasmas Applied for Science, Industry, and Medicine
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityKyoto
Period17/09/0720/09/07

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