Compact 10 TW laser to generate multi-filament arrays

Webb, Benjamin; Bradford, Joshua; Lim, Khan; Bodnar, Nathan; Vaupel, Andreas; McKee, Erik; Baudelet, Matthieu; Durand, Magali; Shah, Lawrence; Richardson, Martin

doi:10.1364/cleo_si.2014.sm1f.6

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The aim of the program was to develop the first mobile TW-laser to perform field experiments, and in particular atmospheric diagnostics and non-linear Lidar remote sensing (Wille et al 2002, Kasparian et al 2003. Several systems were constructed by different groups after the experience of the Teramobile, for instance the T&T (Kamali et al 2009) in Canada, the ENSTA-mobile (Forestier et al 2012) in France, and at CREOL (Webb et al 2014) in the USA, and are even nowadays commercially available (TT-mobile, Amplitude Technologies, France).…”

Section: Remote Sensing Using Laser Filament Based Non-linear Lidarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-pulse lasers for weather control

Wolf

2017

Rep. Prog. Phys.

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Filamentation of ultra-short TW-class lasers recently opened new perspectives in atmospheric research. Laser filaments are self-sustained light structures of 0.1-1 mm in diameter, spanning over hundreds of meters in length, and producing a low density plasma (10-10 cm) along their path. They stem from the dynamic balance between Kerr self-focusing and defocusing by the self-generated plasma and/or non-linear polarization saturation. While non-linearly propagating in air, these filamentary structures produce a coherent supercontinuum (from 230 nm to 4 µm, for a 800 nm laser wavelength) by self-phase modulation (SPM), which can be used for remote 3D-monitoring of atmospheric components by Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging). However, due to their high intensity (10-10 W cm), they also modify the chemical composition of the air via photo-ionization and photo-dissociation of the molecules and aerosols present in the laser path. These unique properties were recently exploited for investigating the capability of modulating some key atmospheric processes, like lightning from thunderclouds, water vapor condensation, fog formation and dissipation, and light scattering (albedo) from high altitude clouds for radiative forcing management. Here we review recent spectacular advances in this context, achieved both in the laboratory and in the field, reveal their underlying mechanisms, and discuss the applicability of using these new non-linear photonic catalysts for real scale weather control.

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Section: Remote Sensing Using Laser Filament Based Non-linear Lidarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-pulse lasers for weather control

Wolf

2017

Rep. Prog. Phys.

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“…Characterizing filament wavefronts. The following experiments were performed using the Multi-Terawatt Femtosecond Laser, a Ti:sapphire source producing 50 fs pulses centered at 800 nm 70 . Pulse energies ranging from 0.6-6 mJ were studied during propagation under self-collapse conditions.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatially resolved filament wavefront dynamics

Thul

Richardson

Fairchild

2020

Sci Rep

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Spatially resolved wavefront measurements are presented during nonlinear self-collapse and provide the first detailed characterization of wavefront evolution during filament formation. The wavefront dynamics of key nonlinear processes including Kerr self-focusing, ionization and plasma defocusing, and dynamic spatial replenishment are identified and resolved in both the filament core and reservoir regions. These results are analyzed and interpreted with respect to numerical simulations and provide insight into fundamental aspects of filamentation. They also inform applications based on phase manipulation, such as external beam guiding, and present a new method for measuring the nonlinear index of refraction, n 2. Filament formation is based on the nonlinear self-collapse of optical beams 1. Kerr self-focusing (KSF) enables this process by overcoming diffractive spreading when the peak-power of a beam exceeds the critical value for the propagation medium 2,3. This leads to increasing local intensities that surpass the ionization threshold of the medium 4. The presence of electrons decreases the local index of refraction, balancing KSF and resulting in an extended, highly confined plasma channel known as a filament 5. The unique nature of filaments has inspired both practical and academic interest in their capabilities. The properties of filaments have been well-characterized in several studies through measurements of the plasma channel density, lifetime, length, and diameter 6-10. The shape 11 , intensity 12 , spectral and temporal modifications 13-15 , and polarization 16 of the beam formed within the filament have also been studied in detail. The exploration of these properties has produced several novel filament-based applications including white-light seeded parametric amplification 17-19 , pulse compression 20,21 , white-light LIDAR 22,23 , sensing and spectroscopy 24-26 , cloud clearing 27,28 , material modification 29-31 , and guided discharges 32,33. The input (pre-collapse) wavefront of filament-forming beams has also been exploited to control filament properties after collapse, potentially aiding these applications. Altering the initial wavefront conditions allows the plasma density 34 , filament length 35 , spectral broadening 36 , and number of filaments 37-40 to be controlled. It also allows filaments to be organized as arrays, which is useful for nonlinear beam combination and external beam guiding 41-44. The filament-filament interactions within these arrays are of critical importance and are influenced by the transverse spatial structure of each filament's plasma, intensity, and wavefront profiles. However, the wavefront progression during collapse and within the filament itself has been largely ignored. Previous studies of the transverse filament wavefront profile have not measured the full collapse process or have lacked spatial resolution 45-47. The spatio-temporal nonlinear phase contributions within a filament have been previously been measured interferometrically, but these works do not inclu...

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“…In the experiments, femtosecond laser pulses (pulse duration τ p = 50 fs, energy E = 2.8 mJ, wavelength λ = 800 nm) from the Multi-Terawatt Femtosecond Laser (MTFL) facility 23 at the University of Central Florida were focused by a lens (focal length f = 3 m), into a transparent gas-filled chamber (length L = 4.5 m). The length of the chamber, and the thickness of the SiO 2 windows (2.0 mm at input and output) were chosen to prevent the effects of nonlinearity in the window.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We measure the spectrum and polarization ellipticity of the supercontinuum generated through filamentation of a femtosecond laser pulse (50 fs, 2.8 mJ) 23 in different gases and for different prepared input polarization ellipticities. The input ellipticity is controlled by rotating a broadband quarter wave plate (QWP) before filamentation is aided by low numerical aperture (NA ≈ 10 −3 ) focusing 14 (see Fig.…”

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confidence: 99%

Dramatic enhancement of supercontinuum generation in elliptically-polarized laser filaments

Rostami

Chini

Lim

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Broadband laser sources based on supercontinuum generation in femtosecond laser filamentation have enabled applications from stand-off sensing and spectroscopy to the generation and self-compression of high-energy few-cycle pulses. Filamentation relies on the dynamic balance between self-focusing and plasma defocusing – mediated by the Kerr nonlinearity and multiphoton or tunnel ionization, respectively. The filament properties, including the supercontinuum generation, are therefore highly sensitive to the properties of both the laser source and the propagation medium. Here, we report the anomalous spectral broadening of the supercontinuum for filamentation in molecular gases, which is observed for specific elliptical polarization states of the input laser pulse. The resulting spectrum is accompanied by a modification of the supercontinuum polarization state and a lengthening of the filament plasma column. Our experimental results and accompanying simulations suggest that rotational dynamics of diatomic molecules play an essential role in filamentation-induced supercontinuum generation, which can be controlled with polarization ellipticity.

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Compact 10 TW laser to generate multi-filament arrays

Cited by 6 publications

References 2 publications

Short-pulse lasers for weather control

Short-pulse lasers for weather control

Spatially resolved filament wavefront dynamics

Dramatic enhancement of supercontinuum generation in elliptically-polarized laser filaments

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