Ultrafast gaseous

doi:10.1364/OE.16.007564

Ultrafast gaseous "half-wave plate"

P. Béjot, Y. Petit, L. Bonacina, J. Kasparian, M. Moret, and J.-P. Wolf »View Author Affiliations

Optics Express, Vol. 16, Issue 10, pp. 7564-7570 (2008)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.16.007564

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Abstract

We demonstrate that filaments generated by ultrashort laser pulses can induce a remarkably large birefringence in Argon over its whole length, resulting in an ultrafast “half-wave plate” for a copropagating probe beam. This birefringence originates from the difference between the nonlinear refractive indices induced by the filament on the axes parallel and orthogonal to its polarization. An angle of 45° between the filament and the probe polarizations allows the realization of ultrafast Kerr-gates, with a switching time ultimately limited by the duration of the filamenting pulse.

OCIS Codes
(140.7090) Lasers and laser optics : Ultrafast lasers
(190.3270) Nonlinear optics : Kerr effect
(190.5940) Nonlinear optics : Self-action effects
(190.7110) Nonlinear optics : Ultrafast nonlinear optics
(260.1440) Physical optics : Birefringence

ToC Category:
Nonlinear Optics

History
Original Manuscript: March 17, 2008
Revised Manuscript: April 18, 2008
Manuscript Accepted: April 20, 2008
Published: May 9, 2008

Citation
P. Béjot, Y. Petit, L. Bonacina, J. Kasparian, M. Moret, and J.-P. Wolf, "Ultrafast gaseous "half-wave plate"," Opt. Express 16, 7564-7570 (2008)
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-16-10-7564

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References

A. Braun, G. Korn, X. Liu, D. Du, J. Squier, and G. Mourou, "Self-channeling of high-peak-power femtosecond laser pulses in air," Opt. Lett. 20, 73-75 (1995). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
S. L. Chin, S. A. Hosseini, W. Liu, Q. Luo, F. Theberge, N. Akozbek, A. Becker, V. P. Kandidov, O. G. Kosareva, and H. Schroeder, "The propagation of powerful femtosecond laser pulses in optical media: physics, applications, and new challenges," Can. J. Phys. 83, 863-905 (2005). [CrossRef]
L. Bergé, S. Skupin, R. Nuter, J. Kasparian, and J.-P. Wolf, "Ultrashort filaments of light in weakly-ionized, optically-transparent media," Rep. Prog. Phys. 70, 1633-1713 (2007). [CrossRef]
A. Couairon and A. Mysyrowicz, "Femtosecond filamentation in transparent media," Phys. Rep. 441, 47-189 (2007). [CrossRef]
J. Kasparian and J.-P. Wolf, "Physics and applications of atmospheric nonlinear optics and filamentation," Opt. Express 16, 466-493 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
J. Kasparian, M. Rodriguez, G. Méjean, J. Yu, E. Salmon, H. Wille, R. Bourayou, S. Frey, Y.-B. André, A. Mysyrowicz, R. Sauerbrey, J.-P. Wolf, and L. Wöste, "White-Light Filaments for Atmospheric Analysis," Science 301, 61-64 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
J. Kasparian, R. Ackermann, Y.-B. André, G. Méchain, G. Méjean, B. Prade, P. Rohwetter, E. Salmon, K. Stelmaszczyk, J. Yu, A. Mysyrowicz, R. Sauerbrey, L. Wöste, and J.-P. Wolf, "Electric events synchronized with laser filaments in thunderclouds," Opt. Express 16, 5757 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
C. P. Hauri, W. Kornelis, F. W. Helbing, A. Couairon, A. Mysyrowicz, J. Bieglert, and U. Keller, "Generation of intense, carrier-envelope phase-locked few-cycle laser pulses through filamentation," Appl. Phys. B 79, 673-677 (2004). [CrossRef]
S. A. Trushin, K. Kosma, W. Fuss, and W. E. Schmid, "Sub-10-fs supercontinuum radiation generated by filamentation of few-cycle 800 nm pulses in argon," Opt. Lett. 32, 2432-2434 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
S. Petit, A. Talebpour, A. Proulx, and S. L. Chin, "Polarization dependence of the propagation of intense laser pulses in air," Opt. Commun. 175, 323-327 (2000). [CrossRef]
G. Fibich and B. Ilan, "Self-focusing of circularly polarized beams," Phys. Rev. E 67,036622 (2003). [CrossRef]
H. Yang, J. Zhang, Q. J. Zhang, Z. Q. Hao, Y. T. Li, Z. Y. Zheng, Z. H. Wang, Q. L. Dong, X. Lu, Z. Y. Wei, Z. M. Sheng, J. Yu, and W. Yu, "Polarization-dependent supercontinuum generation from light filaments in air," Opt. Lett. 30, 534-536 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
M. Kolesik, J. V. Moloney, and E. M. Wright, "Polarization dynamics of femtosecond pulses propagating in air," Phys. Rev. E 64, 046607 (2001). [CrossRef]
S. Tzortzakis, B. Prade, M. Franco, and A. Mysyrowicz, "Time evolution of the plasma channel at the trail of a self-guided IR femtosecond laser pulse in air," Opt. Commun. 181, 123-127 (2000). [CrossRef]
J. P. Geindre, P. Audebert, A. Rousse, F. Fallies, J. C. Gauthier, A. Mysyrowicz, A. Dossantos, and G. Hamoniaux, "Frequency-Domain Interferometer for Measuring the Phase and Amplitude of a Femtosecond Pulse Probing a Laser-Produced Plasma," Opt. Lett. 19, 1997-1999 (1994). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Y. H. Chen, S. Varma, I. Alexeev, and H. M. Milchberg, "Measurement of transient nonlinear refractive index in gases using xenon supercontinuum single-shot spectral interferometry," Opt. Express 15, 7458-7467 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
M. Mlejnek, E. M. Wright, and J. V. Moloney, "Femtosecond pulse propagation in argon: A pressure dependence study," Phys. Rev. E 58, 4903-4910 (1998). [CrossRef]
P. Béjot, C. Bonnet, V. Boutou, and J.-P. Wolf, "Laser noise compression by filamentation at 400 nm in argon," Opt. Express 15, 13295-13309 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
G. P. Agrawal, Nonlinear Fiber Optics (Academic Press, San Diego, 2001).
J. Kasparian, R. Sauerbrey, and S. L. Chin, "The critical laser intensity of self-guided light filaments in air," Appl. Phys. B 71, 877-879 (2000). [CrossRef]
P. Sprangle, E. Esarey, and B. Hafizi, "Propagation and stability of intense laser pulses in partially stripped plasmas," Phys. Rev. E 56, 5894-5907 (1997) [CrossRef]
A. Becker, N. Aközbek, K. Vijayalakshmi, E. Oral, C. M. Bowden, and S. L. Chin, "Intensity clamping and re-focusing of intense femtosecond laser pulses in nitrogen molecular gas," Appl. Phys. B 73, 287-290 (2001). [CrossRef]
B. La Fontaine, F. Vidal, Z. Jiang, C. Y. Chien, D. Comtois, A. Desparois, T. W. Johnson, J.-C. Kieffer, and H. Pépin, "Filamentation of ultrashort pulse laser beams resulting from their propagation over long distances in air," Phys. Plasmas 6, 1615-1621 (1999). [CrossRef]
M. Rodriguez, R. Bourayou, G. Méjean, J. Kasparian, J. Yu, E. Salmon, A. Scholz, B. Stecklum, J. Eislöffel, U. Laux, A. P. Hatzes, R. Sauerbrey, L. Wöste, and J.-P. Wolf, "Kilometer-range non-linear propagation of femtosecond laser pulses," Phys. Rev. E 69, 036607 (2004). [CrossRef]
G. Méchain, A. Couairon, Y.-B. André, C. D'amico, M. Franco, B. Prade, S. Tzortzakis, A. Mysyrowicz, and R. Sauerbrey, "Long-range self-channeling of infrared laser pulses in air: a new propagation regime without ionization," Appl. Phys. B 79, 379 (2004). [CrossRef]
G. Méjean, J. Kasparian, J. Yu, E. Salmon, S. Frey, J.-P. Wolf, S. Skupin, A. Vinçotte, R. Nuter, S. Champeaux, and L. Bergé, "Multifilamentation transmission through fog," Phys. Rev. E 72, 026611 (2005). [CrossRef]
G. Méchain, G. Méjean, R. Ackermann, P. Rohwetter, Y.-B. André, J. Kasparian, B. Prade, K. Stelmaszczyk, J. Yu, E. Salmon, W. Winn, L. A. V. Schlie, A. Mysyrowicz, R. Sauerbrey, L. Wöste, and J.-P. Wolf, "Propagation of fs-TW laser filaments in adverse atmospheric conditions," Appl. Phys. B 80, 785-789 (2005). [CrossRef]
R. Salamé, N. Lascoux, E. Salmon, J. Kasparian, and J. P. Wolf, "Propagation of laser filaments through an extended turbulent region," Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 171106 (2007). [CrossRef]

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[1] A. Braun, G. Korn, X. Liu, D. Du, J. Squier, and G. Mourou, "Self-channeling of high-peak-power femtosecond laser pulses in air," Opt. Lett. 20, 73-75 (1995). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[2] S. L. Chin, S. A. Hosseini, W. Liu, Q. Luo, F. Theberge, N. Akozbek, A. Becker, V. P. Kandidov, O. G. Kosareva, and H. Schroeder, "The propagation of powerful femtosecond laser pulses in optical media: physics, applications, and new challenges," Can. J. Phys. 83, 863-905 (2005). [CrossRef]

[3] L. Bergé, S. Skupin, R. Nuter, J. Kasparian, and J.-P. Wolf, "Ultrashort filaments of light in weakly-ionized, optically-transparent media," Rep. Prog. Phys. 70, 1633-1713 (2007). [CrossRef]

[4] A. Couairon and A. Mysyrowicz, "Femtosecond filamentation in transparent media," Phys. Rep. 441, 47-189 (2007). [CrossRef]

[5] J. Kasparian and J.-P. Wolf, "Physics and applications of atmospheric nonlinear optics and filamentation," Opt. Express 16, 466-493 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[6] J. Kasparian, M. Rodriguez, G. Méjean, J. Yu, E. Salmon, H. Wille, R. Bourayou, S. Frey, Y.-B. André, A. Mysyrowicz, R. Sauerbrey, J.-P. Wolf, and L. Wöste, "White-Light Filaments for Atmospheric Analysis," Science 301, 61-64 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[7] J. Kasparian, R. Ackermann, Y.-B. André, G. Méchain, G. Méjean, B. Prade, P. Rohwetter, E. Salmon, K. Stelmaszczyk, J. Yu, A. Mysyrowicz, R. Sauerbrey, L. Wöste, and J.-P. Wolf, "Electric events synchronized with laser filaments in thunderclouds," Opt. Express 16, 5757 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[8] C. P. Hauri, W. Kornelis, F. W. Helbing, A. Couairon, A. Mysyrowicz, J. Bieglert, and U. Keller, "Generation of intense, carrier-envelope phase-locked few-cycle laser pulses through filamentation," Appl. Phys. B 79, 673-677 (2004). [CrossRef]

[9] S. A. Trushin, K. Kosma, W. Fuss, and W. E. Schmid, "Sub-10-fs supercontinuum radiation generated by filamentation of few-cycle 800 nm pulses in argon," Opt. Lett. 32, 2432-2434 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[10] S. Petit, A. Talebpour, A. Proulx, and S. L. Chin, "Polarization dependence of the propagation of intense laser pulses in air," Opt. Commun. 175, 323-327 (2000). [CrossRef]

[11] G. Fibich and B. Ilan, "Self-focusing of circularly polarized beams," Phys. Rev. E 67,036622 (2003). [CrossRef]

[12] H. Yang, J. Zhang, Q. J. Zhang, Z. Q. Hao, Y. T. Li, Z. Y. Zheng, Z. H. Wang, Q. L. Dong, X. Lu, Z. Y. Wei, Z. M. Sheng, J. Yu, and W. Yu, "Polarization-dependent supercontinuum generation from light filaments in air," Opt. Lett. 30, 534-536 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[13] M. Kolesik, J. V. Moloney, and E. M. Wright, "Polarization dynamics of femtosecond pulses propagating in air," Phys. Rev. E 64, 046607 (2001). [CrossRef]

[14] S. Tzortzakis, B. Prade, M. Franco, and A. Mysyrowicz, "Time evolution of the plasma channel at the trail of a self-guided IR femtosecond laser pulse in air," Opt. Commun. 181, 123-127 (2000). [CrossRef]

[15] J. P. Geindre, P. Audebert, A. Rousse, F. Fallies, J. C. Gauthier, A. Mysyrowicz, A. Dossantos, and G. Hamoniaux, "Frequency-Domain Interferometer for Measuring the Phase and Amplitude of a Femtosecond Pulse Probing a Laser-Produced Plasma," Opt. Lett. 19, 1997-1999 (1994). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[16] Y. H. Chen, S. Varma, I. Alexeev, and H. M. Milchberg, "Measurement of transient nonlinear refractive index in gases using xenon supercontinuum single-shot spectral interferometry," Opt. Express 15, 7458-7467 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[17] M. Mlejnek, E. M. Wright, and J. V. Moloney, "Femtosecond pulse propagation in argon: A pressure dependence study," Phys. Rev. E 58, 4903-4910 (1998). [CrossRef]

[18] P. Béjot, C. Bonnet, V. Boutou, and J.-P. Wolf, "Laser noise compression by filamentation at 400 nm in argon," Opt. Express 15, 13295-13309 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[19] G. P. Agrawal, Nonlinear Fiber Optics (Academic Press, San Diego, 2001).

[20] J. Kasparian, R. Sauerbrey, and S. L. Chin, "The critical laser intensity of self-guided light filaments in air," Appl. Phys. B 71, 877-879 (2000). [CrossRef]

[21] P. Sprangle, E. Esarey, and B. Hafizi, "Propagation and stability of intense laser pulses in partially stripped plasmas," Phys. Rev. E 56, 5894-5907 (1997) [CrossRef]

[22] A. Becker, N. Aközbek, K. Vijayalakshmi, E. Oral, C. M. Bowden, and S. L. Chin, "Intensity clamping and re-focusing of intense femtosecond laser pulses in nitrogen molecular gas," Appl. Phys. B 73, 287-290 (2001). [CrossRef]

[23] B. La Fontaine, F. Vidal, Z. Jiang, C. Y. Chien, D. Comtois, A. Desparois, T. W. Johnson, J.-C. Kieffer, and H. Pépin, "Filamentation of ultrashort pulse laser beams resulting from their propagation over long distances in air," Phys. Plasmas 6, 1615-1621 (1999). [CrossRef]

[24] M. Rodriguez, R. Bourayou, G. Méjean, J. Kasparian, J. Yu, E. Salmon, A. Scholz, B. Stecklum, J. Eislöffel, U. Laux, A. P. Hatzes, R. Sauerbrey, L. Wöste, and J.-P. Wolf, "Kilometer-range non-linear propagation of femtosecond laser pulses," Phys. Rev. E 69, 036607 (2004). [CrossRef]

[25] G. Méchain, A. Couairon, Y.-B. André, C. D'amico, M. Franco, B. Prade, S. Tzortzakis, A. Mysyrowicz, and R. Sauerbrey, "Long-range self-channeling of infrared laser pulses in air: a new propagation regime without ionization," Appl. Phys. B 79, 379 (2004). [CrossRef]

[26] G. Méjean, J. Kasparian, J. Yu, E. Salmon, S. Frey, J.-P. Wolf, S. Skupin, A. Vinçotte, R. Nuter, S. Champeaux, and L. Bergé, "Multifilamentation transmission through fog," Phys. Rev. E 72, 026611 (2005). [CrossRef]

[27] G. Méchain, G. Méjean, R. Ackermann, P. Rohwetter, Y.-B. André, J. Kasparian, B. Prade, K. Stelmaszczyk, J. Yu, E. Salmon, W. Winn, L. A. V. Schlie, A. Mysyrowicz, R. Sauerbrey, L. Wöste, and J.-P. Wolf, "Propagation of fs-TW laser filaments in adverse atmospheric conditions," Appl. Phys. B 80, 785-789 (2005). [CrossRef]

[28] R. Salamé, N. Lascoux, E. Salmon, J. Kasparian, and J. P. Wolf, "Propagation of laser filaments through an extended turbulent region," Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 171106 (2007). [CrossRef]

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Ultrafast gaseous "half-wave plate"