Self-compression of high-peak-power mid-infrared pulses in anomalously dispersive air

Mitrofanov, A. V.; Voronin, A. A.; Рожко, М. В.; Sidorov‐Biryukov, D. A.; Федотов, А. Б.; Pugžlys, Audrius; Shumakova, Valentina; Ališauskas, Skirmantas; Baltuška, Andrius; Zheltikov, A. M.

doi:10.1364/optica.4.001405

Cited by 41 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…In the equilibrium case, T kin = T pl , and in the absence of the source and loss terms for the density, Eqs. (18) and (19) are identical in form to those derived by Romanov et al [28] to describe impact ionization cooling.…”

Section: Temperature Loss Ratementioning

confidence: 67%

Memory effects in the long-wave infrared avalanche ionization of gases: a review of recent progress

et al. 2019

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There are currently intense efforts being directed towards extending the range and energy of long distance nonlinear pulse propagation in the atmosphere by moving to longer infrared wavelengths, with the purpose of mitigating the effects of turbulence. In addition, picosecond and longer pulse durations are being used to increase the pulse energy. While both of these tacks promise improvements in applications, such as remote sensing and directed energy, they open up fundamental issues regarding the standard model used to calculate the nonlinear optical properties of dilute gases. Amongst these issues is that for longer wavelengths and longer pulse durations, exponential growth of the laser-generated electron density, the so-called avalanche ionization, can limit the propagation range via nonlinear absorption and plasma defocusing. It is therefore important for the continued development of the field to assess the theory and role of avalanche ionization in gases for longer wavelengths. Here, after an overview of the standard model, we present a microscopically motivated approach for the analysis of avalanche ionization in gases that extends beyond the standard model and we contend is key for deepening our understanding of long distance propagation at long infrared wavelengths. Our new approach involves the mean electron kinetic energy, the plasma temperature, and the free electron density as dynamic variables. The rate of avalanche ionization is shown to depend on the full time history of the pulsed excitation, as opposed to the standard model in which the rate is proportional to the instantaneous intensity. Furthermore, the new approach has the added benefit that it is no more computationally intensive than the standard one. The resulting memory effects and some of their measurable physical consequences are demonstrated for the example of long-wavelength infrared avalanche ionization and long distance high-intensity pulse propagation in air. Our hope is that this report in progress will stimulate further discussion that will elucidate the physics and simulation of avalanche ionization at long infrared wavelengths and advance the field. arXiv:1810.07345v2 [physics.optics]

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Section: Temperature Loss Ratementioning

confidence: 67%

Memory effects in the long-wave infrared avalanche ionization of gases: a review of recent progress

et al. 2019

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“…Chirping of the 30-mJ pulses to durations longer than ~300 fs leads to an abortion of the filamentation due to the drop of peak power below the critical power of self-focusing and yields to propagation of initially elliptical beam without symmetrization. In this case, the solitonic self-compression without filamentation takes place [3].…”

Section: Self-compression In Airmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…However, multiple molecular resonances present in mid-IR "fingerprint" spectral region are not only providing anomalous dispersion windows, but also complicate propagation dynamics and cause absorption losses, which might be dramatically enhanced via nonlinear spectral broadening. Anomalous dispersion of air between 3.6-4.2 μm [1], makes feasible propagation and self-compression of mid-IR pulses in a solitonic regime [2], [3] and even, as predicted theoretically, formation of light bullets [4], which are ultrashort highly localized light structures propagating without changing their size and shape [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-mJ mid-IR light bullets in air

et al. 2019

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“…In case of filaments in this spectral range, it is not easy to clearly identify whether filamentation dynamics or soliton propagation is dominant in self-compression. In an experiment at 3.9 µm wavelength the observed self-compression of mJ 94 fs pulses to 30 fs in a bulk YAG plate [185] and later, positively chirped 18 mJ, 100 fs pulses to 39 fs at 16 mJ energy in nitrogen was interpreted in terms of soliton propagation [186]. In another experiment with the same light source self-compression of positively chirped 150 fs pulses with 29.5 mJ energy, having similar peak power as in the former case, to sub-3-cycle with a duration of 28 fs at a peak power of 0.34 TW was interpreted as light bullet formation in air filament [187].…”

Section: Self-compression Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-energy few-cycle pulses: post-compression techniques

Nagy

Simon

Veisz

2020

Advances in Physics: X

102

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Contemporary ultrafast science requires reliable sources of high-energy few-cycle light pulses. Currently two methods are capable of generating such pulses: post compression of short laser pulses and optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA). Here we give a comprehensive overview on the post-compression technology based on optical Kerr-effect or ionization, with particular emphasis on energy and power scaling. Relevant types of post compression techniques are discussed including free propagation in bulk materials, multiple-plate continuum generation, multi-pass cells, filaments, photonic-crystal fibers, hollow-core fibers and self-compression techniques. We provide a short theoretical overview of the physics as well as an in-depth description of existing experimental realizations of post compression, especially those that can provide few-cycle pulse duration with mJ-scale pulse energy. The achieved experimental performances of these methods are compared in terms of important figures of merit such as pulse energy, pulse duration, peak power and average power. We give some perspectives at the end to emphasize the expected future trends of this technology.

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Self-compression of high-peak-power mid-infrared pulses in anomalously dispersive air

Cited by 41 publications

References 21 publications

Memory effects in the long-wave infrared avalanche ionization of gases: a review of recent progress

Memory effects in the long-wave infrared avalanche ionization of gases: a review of recent progress

Multi-mJ mid-IR light bullets in air

High-energy few-cycle pulses: post-compression techniques

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