Abstract
Previously,1 the optical breakdown threshold of a material was considered a constant of the material coefficients and the optical system's parameters. Here we present experiments and theory showing that an externally applied field can increase optical breakdown thresholds.2,3 In the experiments, optically ionized contaminants are electrostatically removed from SF6 gas, completely eliminating optical breakdown for peak pulse intensities as high as ~0.7 TW cm−2. Calculations for SF6 show that electron drift out of the focal volume during the pulse train is substantial; this effect should increase optical breakdown thresholds beyond that attainable in perfectly pure gases. These results are important for multiple short pulse stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugators4 and other nonlinear optical devices previously limited by optical breakdown.
© 1990 Optical Society of America
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