Open AccessManipulation of femtosecond laser filamentation by a gaseous lattice
Author(s) -
Yi Guo,
Jianji Wang,
Jingquan Lin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.411032
Subject(s) - filamentation , femtosecond , laser , optics , diffraction , materials science , protein filament , lattice (music) , refractive index , physics , acoustics , composite material
Manipulation of femtosecond laser filamentation is essential for many potential applications. We report the simulations of the manipulation of femtosecond laser filamentation by introducing a novel gaseous lattice medium with the alternating positive and negative refractive index distribution at different stages of filamentation. The results show that the filament length has greatly been extended and a multi-filament array can be formed by the gas lattice medium. It has been found that additional focusing and discrete diffraction provided by the gas lattice medium contribute to a new dynamic equilibrium in the filamentation. As a result, a varied cross-section pattern, higher field intensity, and electron density along the filamentation are obtained. Our approach provides a new way to manipulate filamentation for many practical photonic applications.