Optical power limiter in the femtosecond filamentation regime

We present the use of a power limiting apparatus to evaluate ultrafast optical nonlinearities of transparent liquids (water and ethanol) in the femtosecond filamentation regime. The setup has been previously employed for the same purpose, however, in a longer pulsewidth (> 20 ps) regime, which leads to an ambiguous evaluation of the critical power for self-focusing. The uncertainty originates from the existence of a threshold power for optical breakdown well below the critical power for self-focusing within this timeframe. Contrarily, using the proposed apparatus in the femtosecond regime, we observe for the first time a unique optical response, which features the underlying physics of laser filamentation. Importantly, we demonstrate a dependence of the optical transmission of the power limiter on its geometrical, imaging characteristics and the conditions under which a distinct demarcation for the critical power for self-focusing can be determined. The result is supported by numerical simulations, which indicate that the features of the observed power-dependent optical response of the power limiting setup are physically related to the spontaneous transformation of the laser pulses into nonlinear conical waves.

Ultrashort Light Pulses in Transparent Solids: Propagation Peculiarities and Practical Applications

The peculiarities of the femtosecond filamentation in Kerr media has been studied using a set of time-resoling experimental techniques. These include the temporal self-compression of a laser pulse in the filamentation mode, repulsive and attractive interactions of filaments, and influence of the birefringence on the filamentation. The propagation of femtosecond laser pulses at the 1550-nm wavelength in c-Si is studied for the first time using methods of time-resolved transmission microscopy. The nonlinear widening of the pulse spectrum due to the Kerr- and plasma-caused self-phase modulation is recorded.