News & Events
The extreme nonlinear optics of air and femtosecond optical filamentation
Dr. Howard M. Milchberg, University of Maryland
Monday, November 25, 2013
3 p.m.4:30 p.m.
Sloan Auditorium
Abstract:
Under certain conditions, powerful ultrashort laser pulses
can form greatly extended filaments of concentrated high intensity in gases,
leaving behind a very long trail of plasma. Such filaments can be much longer
than the longitudinal scale over which a laser beam typically diverges by
diffraction. Applications range from laser-guided electrical discharges to
remote sensing. Air is a medium of particular interest for applications, and as
a mostly molecular gas it is interesting from a physics perspective as well.
The experimental program at Maryland has two tracks. One is to do fundamental
measurements of the nonlinear response of gas phase atoms and molecules with
unprecedented precision in space and time. The other is to use this
understanding in filamentation experiments. I will discuss several of our
recent filament-related experiments, including the development of air
waveguides for remote transport of high average power laser beams.