Third-generation femtosecond technology

A Proliferation Assessment of Third Generation Laser Uranium Enrichment Technology

Third and fifth harmonic generation by tightly focused femtosecond pulses at 2.2 μm wavelength in air.

We report experiments on the generation of third and fifth harmonics of millijoule-level, tightly focused, femtosecond laser pulses at 2.2 μm wavelength in air. The measured ratio of yields of the third and fifth harmonics in our setup is found equal to 2 · 10(-4). This result contradicts the recent suggestion that the Kerr effect in air saturates and changes sign in ultra-intense optical fields.

Simulation of third-harmonic and supercontinuum generation for femtosecond pulses in air

Numerical simulations of third-harmonic and supercontinuum generation for femtosecond pulses propagating in air are presented which, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, do not rely on the decomposition of the total field into slowly-varying fields centered around the fundamental and third-harmonic. The simulation results are interpreted using an effective three-wave mixing approach...

Third-order harmonic generation by self-guided femtosecond pulses in air.

Strong third-order harmonic (TH) emission is observed with a conversion efficiency higher than 10(-3) from a plasma channel formed by self-guided femtosecond laser pulses propagating in air. The main characteristics of TH emission in various conditions and the phase-matching condition between the fundamental and the TH wave are investigated. An optimized condition is found, under which the TH c...

Enhancement of third-order harmonic generation by interaction of two IR femtosecond filaments

Three orders of magnitude in the enhancement of the third-order harmonic (TH) generation induced by the interaction of two femtosecond filaments crossing with small angles in the air is achieved. The dependences of the TH generation on the time delay, the relative polarization, the input laser intensity ratios between the probe and pump beam are measured with the crossing angle of 3.5◦, and the...