Femtosecond filament induced birefringence in argon and in air: Ultrafast refractive index change

Claude Marceau; S. Ramakrishna; Simon Génier; Tie Jun Wang; Yanping Chen; Francis Théberge; Marc Châteauneuf; Jacques Dubois; Tamar Seideman; See Leang Chin

doi:10.1016/j.optcom.2010.03.004

Femtosecond filament induced birefringence in argon and in air: Ultrafast refractive index change

Claude Marceau^*, S. Ramakrishna, Simon Génier, Tie Jun Wang, Yanping Chen, Francis Théberge, Marc Châteauneuf, Jacques Dubois, Tamar Seideman, See Leang Chin

^*Corresponding author for this work

Chemistry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

The birefringence of a linearly polarized femtosecond laser filament in gases has been previously established. In this work, we report the time-dependent refractive index measurements of the filament based upon the spectral modulation of a weak probe pulse in air and in argon gas at 1 atmospheric pressure. The polarization dependence of the refractive index modulation induced by the delayed molecular alignment and by the electronic Kerr effect is highlighted. A numerical simulation of the refractive indices, which takes into account the molecular alignment, the electronic Kerr non-linearity and the plasma, is in good agreement with the measurements.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2732-2736
Number of pages	5
Journal	Optics Communications
Volume	283
Issue number	13
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optcom.2010.03.004
State	Published - Jul 1 2010

Keywords

Filamentation
Kerr effect
Molecular alignment
Non-linear optics
Revival

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Access to Document

10.1016/j.optcom.2010.03.004

Cite this

@article{1be582d1c44a4118aa3f69a8bd638567,

title = "Femtosecond filament induced birefringence in argon and in air: Ultrafast refractive index change",

abstract = "The birefringence of a linearly polarized femtosecond laser filament in gases has been previously established. In this work, we report the time-dependent refractive index measurements of the filament based upon the spectral modulation of a weak probe pulse in air and in argon gas at 1 atmospheric pressure. The polarization dependence of the refractive index modulation induced by the delayed molecular alignment and by the electronic Kerr effect is highlighted. A numerical simulation of the refractive indices, which takes into account the molecular alignment, the electronic Kerr non-linearity and the plasma, is in good agreement with the measurements.",

keywords = "Filamentation, Kerr effect, Molecular alignment, Non-linear optics, Revival",

author = "Claude Marceau and S. Ramakrishna and Simon G{\'e}nier and Wang, {Tie Jun} and Yanping Chen and Francis Th{\'e}berge and Marc Ch{\^a}teauneuf and Jacques Dubois and Tamar Seideman and Chin, {See Leang}",

year = "2010",

month = jul,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.optcom.2010.03.004",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "283",

pages = "2732--2736",

journal = "Optics Communications",

issn = "0030-4018",

publisher = "Elsevier",

number = "13",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Femtosecond filament induced birefringence in argon and in air

T2 - Ultrafast refractive index change

AU - Marceau, Claude

AU - Ramakrishna, S.

AU - Génier, Simon

AU - Wang, Tie Jun

AU - Chen, Yanping

AU - Théberge, Francis

AU - Châteauneuf, Marc

AU - Dubois, Jacques

AU - Seideman, Tamar

AU - Chin, See Leang

PY - 2010/7/1

Y1 - 2010/7/1

N2 - The birefringence of a linearly polarized femtosecond laser filament in gases has been previously established. In this work, we report the time-dependent refractive index measurements of the filament based upon the spectral modulation of a weak probe pulse in air and in argon gas at 1 atmospheric pressure. The polarization dependence of the refractive index modulation induced by the delayed molecular alignment and by the electronic Kerr effect is highlighted. A numerical simulation of the refractive indices, which takes into account the molecular alignment, the electronic Kerr non-linearity and the plasma, is in good agreement with the measurements.

AB - The birefringence of a linearly polarized femtosecond laser filament in gases has been previously established. In this work, we report the time-dependent refractive index measurements of the filament based upon the spectral modulation of a weak probe pulse in air and in argon gas at 1 atmospheric pressure. The polarization dependence of the refractive index modulation induced by the delayed molecular alignment and by the electronic Kerr effect is highlighted. A numerical simulation of the refractive indices, which takes into account the molecular alignment, the electronic Kerr non-linearity and the plasma, is in good agreement with the measurements.

KW - Filamentation

KW - Kerr effect

KW - Molecular alignment

KW - Non-linear optics

KW - Revival

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78649819908&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=78649819908&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.optcom.2010.03.004

DO - 10.1016/j.optcom.2010.03.004

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:78649819908

SN - 0030-4018

VL - 283

SP - 2732

EP - 2736

JO - Optics Communications

JF - Optics Communications

IS - 13

ER -

Femtosecond filament induced birefringence in argon and in air: Ultrafast refractive index change

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this