Control of laser filamentation in fused silica by a periodic microlens array

Camino, Acner; Hao, Zuoqiang; Xu, Long; Lin, Jingquan

doi:10.1364/oe.21.007908

Cited by 27 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In addition, the filamentation process in fused silica generated under femtosecond illumination has been studied by means of diffractive lenses [24][25][26]. In particular, conventional arrays of diffractive lenses have been implemented as a tool to generate multiple and predefined filaments in fused silica [24,27]. At this point, we want to note that the utilization of a conventional array of diffractive lenses for multifilamentation has some drawbacks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diffractive control of 3D multifilamentation in fused silica with micrometric resolution

et al. 2016

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Abstract:We show that a simple diffractive phase element (DPE) can be used to manipulate at will the positions and energy of multiple filaments generated in fused silica under femtosecond pulsed illumination. The method allows obtaining three-dimensional distributions of controlled filaments whose separations can be in the order of few micrometers. With such small distances we are able to study the mutual coherence among filaments from the resulted interference pattern, without needing a two-arm interferometer. The encoding of the DPE into a phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM) provides an extra degree of freedom to the optical set-up, giving more versatility for implementing different DPEs in real time. Our proposal might be particularly suited for applications at which an accurate manipulation of multiple filaments is required.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diffractive control of 3D multifilamentation in fused silica with micrometric resolution

et al. 2016

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“…Cook and co-workers demonstrated the generation of coherent continuum filaments in B270 glass by using an array of diffractive microlenses (DMLs) [18]. More recently, Camino et al [19] proposed deterministic MF in fused silica by adjusting the diffraction pattern generated by a loosely focusing 2D periodic lens array. However, it is still necessary to gain further control over the individual filaments, in terms of energy and spectrum, if real industrial, scientific or biomedical applications want to be developed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlled Multibeam Supercontinuum Generation With a Spatial Light Modulator

Borrego-Varillas

Pérez-Vizcaíno

Mendoza-Yero

et al. 2014

IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett.

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Abstract-We report on deterministic femtosecond multifilamentation in fused silica by encoding a diffractive microlens array into a spatial light modulator. The efficiency and focal length of each microlens are modified through the addressing voltage. This allows for a precise control on the energy coupled to the filaments thus obtaining a homogenized supercontinuum pattern from an inhomogeneous irradiance input distribution. Slight changes in the focal length of the microlenses allow for independent tailoring of the supercontinuum spectra.

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“…The filament distribution in an array can be even more deterministic if the position of each beam is managed independently. This is obtained by multiple beam generation using arrays of axicons [23,24] or microlenses [25][26][27].The question motivating our study is how to ensure that the initial multifilament distribution remains unchanged during the propagation or evolves in a predictable manner. This evolution is governed by the stability of a single filament in the array and by the mutual interaction between the neighboring filaments.…”

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confidence: 99%

Dynamics of Large Femtosecond Filament Arrays: Possibilities, Limitations, and Trade-offs

Walasik

Litchinitser

2016

Frontiers in Optics 2016

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Stable propagation of large, multifilament arrays over long distances in air paves new ways for microwave-radiation manipulation. Although, the dynamics of a single or a few filaments was discussed in some of the previous studies, we show that the stability of large plasma filament arrays is significantly more complicated and is constrained by several trade-offs. Here, we analyze the stability properties of rectangular arrays as a function of four parameters: relative phase of the generating beams, number of filaments, separation between them, and initial power. We find that arrays with alternating phase of filaments are more stable than similar arrays with all beams in phase. Additionally, we show that increasing the size of an array increases its stability, and that a proper choice of the beam separation and the initial power has to be made in order to obtain a dense and regular array of filaments.PACS numbers: 52.38. Hb, 42.65.Sf, 42.65.Tg, 42.65.Jx High-power femtosecond laser-pulse filamentation is a flourishing field of nonlinear optics due to its numerous applications in remote sensing, lightning protection, virtual antennas, and waveguiding [1][2][3]. Experiments show that a femtosecond laser beams can ionize atmosphere at the kilometer-scale distances [4]. Propagation over such long distances is a result of the dynamic balance between the focusing Kerr nonlinearity, diffraction, and plasma defocusing due to multiphoton absorption. A proper arrangement of plasma channels into arrays built of multiple filaments can lead to control [5] and efficient guiding of electromagnetic radiation in air [6]. Dielectric [7] and hollow-core metallic waveguide configurations [8,9] were predicted theoretically and demonstrated experimentally [10] to guide microwave radiation. Periodic arrays of densely packed high-intensity filaments were shown to create a hyperbolic metamaterial medium, that allows for radar signal manipulation and resolution enhancement [11,12].Formation of desired, regular filament patterns requires precise control of filament distribution and interaction. Multiple filaments can be generated by an intense Gaussian beam [13,14], whose power is much higher than the critical power of self-focusing P cr . However, the distribution of filaments resulting from the breakup of a Gaussian beam is determined by intensity fluctuations [15] and modulation instability [16,17]. Moreover, the density of filaments generated in this way is limited [18,19]. Therefore, this method can not provide the fine control and the high filament density required for the microwave-radiation manipulation. A certain degree of control of the filament distribution can be obtained by special preparation of the Gaussian beam. It was demonstrated experimentally that the predetermined initial phase [20,21], amplitude distribution [15], and geometry of the beam [22] offer a limited control of the filamentation pattern. The filament distribution in an array can be even more deterministic if the position of each beam is managed independent...

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Control of laser filamentation in fused silica by a periodic microlens array

Cited by 27 publications

References 29 publications

Diffractive control of 3D multifilamentation in fused silica with micrometric resolution

Diffractive control of 3D multifilamentation in fused silica with micrometric resolution

Controlled Multibeam Supercontinuum Generation With a Spatial Light Modulator

Dynamics of Large Femtosecond Filament Arrays: Possibilities, Limitations, and Trade-offs

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