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arXiv · 1103.1467

Transition from plasma- to Kerr-driven laser filamentation

Pierre Béjot·Edouard Hertz·Jérôme Kasparian·Bruno Lavorel·Jean-Pierre Wolf·Olivier Faucher
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Abstract

While filaments are generally interpreted as a dynamic balance between Kerr focusing and plasma defocusing, the role of the higher-order Kerr effect (HOKE) is actively debated as a potentially dominant defocusing contribution to filament stabilization. In a pump-probe experiment supported by numerical simulations, we demonstrate the transition between two distinct filamentation regimes at 800\,nm. For long pulses (1.2 ps), the plasma substantially contributes to filamentation, while this contribution vanishes for short pulses (70 fs). These results confirm the occurrence, in adequate conditions, of filamentation driven by the HOKE rather than by plasma.

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Pierre Béjot, Edouard Hertz, Jérôme Kasparian, Bruno Lavorel, Jean-Pierre Wolf, Olivier Faucher. 2011-05-13. Transition from plasma- to Kerr-driven laser filamentation. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.106.243902

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