Abstract

The spectral, temporal, and spatial characteristics of plasma-induced spectral blue shifting in atmospheric-density rare gases were investigated by a two-color pump–probe technique. When the degree of ionization is less than 1, experiments and theoretical results show that field ionization occurs over a time approximately equal to half the pump-pulse width and that ionization-induced defocusing causes spectral blue shifting to be spatially dependent. The pulse width of a 147-nm pulse generated by four-wave mixing of a femtosecond KrF laser pulse in xenon was determined to be 400 fs by a cross-correlation technique based on plasma defocusing.

© 1996 Optical Society of America

Spectral blue shifting of a femtosecond laser pulse propagating through a high-pressure gas

S. P. Le Blanc, R. Sauerbrey, S. C. Rae, and K. Burnett
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Spectral shifting by optical and collisional ionization of an intense laser pulse in dense noble gases

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Ionization-induced frequency shifts in intense femtosecond laser pulses

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Blue-shifted third-harmonic generation and correlated self-guiding during ultrafast barrier suppression ionization of subatmospheric density noble gases

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Propagation of intense, ultrashort laser pulses through metal vapor: refraction-limited behavior for single pulses

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J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 13(2) 336-346 (1996)