Carrier field shock formation of long wavelength femtosecond pulses in dispersive media

We numerically demonstrate the formation of carrier field shocks in various dispersive media for a wide variety of input conditions using two different electric field propagation models. In addition, an investigation of the impact of numerous physical effects on carrier wave shock is performed. It is shown that in many cases a field shock is essentially unavoidable and therefore extremely important in the propagation of intense long wavelength pulses in weakly dispersive nonlinear media such as noble gases, air, and single-crystal diamond. The results presented here are expected to have a significant impact in the field of ultrashort nonlinear optics, attosecond pulse generation, and wavepacket synthesis where the use of mid-IR wavelengths is becoming increasingly more important.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figure

Experimental Tests of the New Paradigm for Laser Filamentation in Gases

Since their discovery in the mid-1990s, ultrafast laser filaments in gases have been described as products of a dynamic balance between Kerr self-focusing and defocusing by free electric charges that are generated via multi-photon ionization on the beam axis. This established paradigm has been recently challenged by a suggestion that the Kerr effect saturates and even changes sign at high intensity of light, and that this sign reversal, not free-charge defocusing, is the dominant mechanism responsible for the extended propagation of laser filaments. We report qualitative tests of the new theory based on electrical and optical measurements of plasma density in femtosecond laser filaments in air and argon. Our results consistently support the established paradigm.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Modeling and experimental investigation of transverse mode dynamics in VECSEL

We present a new method to simulate the formation of transverse modes in VECSELs. An expression for the gain as a function of carrier density and temperature is derived from a simulation of the structure reflectivity, while the field propagation in the cavity is computed with the Huygens-Fresnel integral. A rate equation model is employed to calculate the field and gain dynamics over numerous round-trips. The optimal mode size for single mode operation for a given pump shape is calculated and compared to experimental results. The effect of pump geometry, thermal lensing and structure design will be discussed.Air Force Office of Scientific Research [FA9550-17-1-0246]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]

Ionization clamping in ultrafast optical breakdown of transparent solids

We formulate a multi-physics model to describe the nonlinear propagation of a femtosecond, near-infrared, tightly focused laser pulse in a transparent dielectric. The application of our model to the case of bulk sapphire shows that even under extreme excitation conditions, ionization is universally clamped at about one tenth of the electron density in the upper valence band. The earlier estimate of ~10 TPa pressure that could be attainable through the internal excitation of transparent dielectrics by tightly focused ultrafast laser beams is shown to be off by two orders of magnitude