We present the fluorescence spectra of single millimeter water droplets and micron-sized dyed water aerosol (rhodamine 6G) stimulated by a high-intensity femtosecond Ti:sapphire-laser pulse (carrier wavelength 792 nm) upon its nonlinear propagation in air. The distinctive feature of our experimental measurements is that the droplet fluorescence is obtained in the area of plasma-free pulse propagation after the pulse filamentation has already been terminated (postfilamentation region). Our results significantly expand the working area of femtosecond laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy for remote diagnostics of atmospheric aerosols.
A single filamentation of femtosecond gigawatt laser radiation with a millimeter-size aperture upon collimated and sharply focused propagation in atmospheric air at 800 nm and 400 nm wavelengths is studied both theoretically and experimentally. The influence of beam initial radius on the parameters of the forming filament is analyzed. Three filament parameters, namely, start coordinate, filament length, and longitudinal continuity are considered. We report that unlike Marburger’s formula the single filamentation onset reveals marked nonquadratic dependence on the laser beam radius providing the same initial pulse power. Additionally, for sharply focused radiation the minor dependence of the filament length on the laser beam diameter at the constant initial pulse intensity was experimentally revealed.
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