Nonlinear transparency window for ultraintense femtosecond laser pulses in the atmosphere

We have found the optimum range of driver wavelengths for mid-infrared ultraintense femtosecond pulses undergoing filamentation in atmospheric air. This wavelength range between 3.1 and 3.5μm forms a nonlinear transparency window identified through a diligent scan of pulse central wavelengths in the range 2.2–4.7μm with a best resolution of 5 nm. Each of 123 wavelengths scanned corresponds to the solution of the full three-dimensional + time pulse propagation and filamentation problem on a 7–19 m path in air. Due to the discovered universal asymmetric character of the nonlinearly enhanced linear absorption in the vicinity of atmospheric molecular band, the optimum driver wavelength belongs to the long-wavelength side of the band.Russian Science Foundation [18-12-00422]; National Key Research and Development Program [2018YFB0504400]; 111 Project [B16027]; U.S. AFOSR under MURI [FA9550-16-1-0013]This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Scaling Law of THz Yield from Two-Color Femtosecond Filament for Fixed Pump Power

In 3D + time numerical simulations, we study the wavelength scaling law for the energy of terahertz (THz) radiation emitted from a two-color femtosecond filament, which forms during cofocusing into air the fundamental and second harmonics of the laser pulse. In our simulations, the central wavelength of the fundamental harmonic varied from 0.8 to 8 μm and the numerical aperture varied from 0.006 to 0.03. While the harmonics and supercontinuum development are not extreme, so the harmonics spectra are clearly separated, the energy of the generated THz radiation is proportional to the oscillation energy of the electrons, which grows as the squared pump wavelength, and the total number of free electrons in the filament, which decreases quasi-exponentially with the pump wavelength. As a result, the scaling law for the THz energy on the pump wavelength is nonmonotonic with the maximum at 1.6–4 μm depending on the focusing conditions

Scaling Law of THz Yield from Two-Color Femtosecond Filament for Fixed Pump Power

In 3D + time numerical simulations, we study the wavelength scaling law for the energy of terahertz (THz) radiation emitted from a two-color femtosecond filament, which forms during cofocusing into air the fundamental and second harmonics of the laser pulse. In our simulations, the central wavelength of the fundamental harmonic varied from 0.8 to 8 μm and the numerical aperture varied from 0.006 to 0.03. While the harmonics and supercontinuum development are not extreme, so the harmonics spectra are clearly separated, the energy of the generated THz radiation is proportional to the oscillation energy of the electrons, which grows as the squared pump wavelength, and the total number of free electrons in the filament, which decreases quasi-exponentially with the pump wavelength. As a result, the scaling law for the THz energy on the pump wavelength is nonmonotonic with the maximum at 1.6–4 μm depending on the focusing conditions

Supercontinuum of a 3.9μm filament in air: Formation of a two-octave plateau and nonlinearly enhanced linear absorption

Through numerical simulations we reveal the scenario of 3.9-mu m filament spectrum enrichment in the atmosphere in the cases of linear and circular polarization of the incident pulse. The discrete spectrum of odd harmonics transforms into the two-octave plateau in the case of linear polarization. In contrast, in the case of circular polarization of the incident pulse, the harmonic-free flat supercontinuum appears with the plasma onset, reaching the tenth harmonic of the input radiation. We identify the energy balance specific to the filamentation near 4 mu m: the absorption on CO2 lines in the atmosphere is accelerated by the self-phase modulation in the Kerr nonlinearity early before the plasma channel is formed. This nonlinearly enhanced linear absorption overwhelms the plasma losses and conversion of the input pulse energy to the higher harmonics as well as the plateau.Authors retain "The right to use all or part of the Article, including the APS-prepared version without revision or modification, on the author(s)’ web home page or employer’s website and to make copies of all or part of the Article, including the APS-prepared version without revision or modification, for the author(s)’ and/or the employer’s use for educational or research purposes."This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Low-Frequency Content of THz Emission from Two-Color Femtosecond Filament

We experimentally investigate the low-frequency (below 1 THz) spectral content of broadband terahertz (THz) emission from two-color femtosecond filament formed by the 2.7-mJ, 40-fs, 800+400-nm pulse focused into air. For incoherent detection, we screened the Golay cell by the bandpass filters and measured the THz angular distributions at the selected frequencies ν=0.5, 1, 2 and 3 THz. The measured distributions of THz fluence were integrated over the forward hemisphere taking into account the transmittance of the filters, thus providing the estimation of spectral power at the frequencies studied. The spectral power decreases monotonically with the frequency increasing from 0.5 to 3 THz, thus showing that the maximum of THz spectrum is attained at ν≤0.5 THz. The THz waveform measured by electro-optical sampling (EOS) based on ZnTe crystal and transformed into the spectral domain shows that there exists the local maximum of the THz spectral power at ν≈1 THz. This disagrees with monotonic decrease of THz spectral power obtained from the filter-based measurements. We have introduced the correction to the spectral power reconstructed from EOS measurements. This correction takes into account different focal spot size for different THz frequencies contained in the broadband electromagnetic pulse. The corrected EOS spectral power is in semi-quantitative agreement with the one measured by a set of filters

Low-Frequency Content of THz Emission from Two-Color Femtosecond Filament

We experimentally investigate the low-frequency (below 1 THz) spectral content of broadband terahertz (THz) emission from two-color femtosecond filament formed by the 2.7-mJ, 40-fs, 800+400-nm pulse focused into air. For incoherent detection, we screened the Golay cell by the bandpass filters and measured the THz angular distributions at the selected frequencies ν=0.5, 1, 2 and 3 THz. The measured distributions of THz fluence were integrated over the forward hemisphere taking into account the transmittance of the filters, thus providing the estimation of spectral power at the frequencies studied. The spectral power decreases monotonically with the frequency increasing from 0.5 to 3 THz, thus showing that the maximum of THz spectrum is attained at ν≤0.5 THz. The THz waveform measured by electro-optical sampling (EOS) based on ZnTe crystal and transformed into the spectral domain shows that there exists the local maximum of the THz spectral power at ν≈1 THz. This disagrees with monotonic decrease of THz spectral power obtained from the filter-based measurements. We have introduced the correction to the spectral power reconstructed from EOS measurements. This correction takes into account different focal spot size for different THz frequencies contained in the broadband electromagnetic pulse. The corrected EOS spectral power is in semi-quantitative agreement with the one measured by a set of filters