Towards a control of multiple filamentation by spatial regularization of a high-power femtosecond laser pulse

• DOI: 10.1007/s00340-004-1677-1
• Publication Date: 2004-11-09T13:53:40Z
• Authors: V.P. Kandidov; N. Akozbek; M. Scalora; O.G. Kosareva; A.V. Nyakk; Q. Luo; S.A. Hosseini; S.L. Chin
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; 01 natural sciences

We propose a new method for controlling randomly generated multiple filaments during the propagation of femtosecond laser pulses in optical media. The method is based on introducing a periodic amplitude modulation of the transverse beam profile. It is shown both experimentally and numerically that the introduction of a periodic mesh into a propagation path of a femtosecond near-infrared laser pulse leads to a deterministic spatial distribution of multiple filaments in the presence of initial random fluctuations. As a result, the number of filaments is increased as compared to the random case.