20 June 2023, Volume 10, Issue 6, pp. 650-811

Nonlinear interaction of a multi-cycle infrared pulse in a rutile plate. The incoming beam experiences an interplay of self-focusing and plasma formation that leads to filament-like propagation and allows one to maintain high intensity across the plate. The phenomenon is accompanied by strong self-phase modulation and self-compression, so that the output pulse can reach a duration equivalent to a single oscillation cycle of its electric field. See Kowalczyk et al., pp. 801–811. See print version of the cover. Illustration by RMT.Bergues.