Abstract

We study the spatial and spectral modulation of the radiation produced by ultrashort pulse continuum generation. We show that the assumptions (1) that continuum radiation is generated at the location of the moving focus of a self-focusing pulse and (2) that the continuum radiation has the phase of the incident radiation allow us to predict the single-shot spectral and spatial modulation rather well. These assumptions could be valid only if self-focusing is halted by a simple process. On the basis of this evidence, we propose that spectral dispersion and other non-slowly-varying effects (which are absent from the usual self-focusing theory) are responsible for halting the self-focusing process.

© 1994 Optical Society of America

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