Abstract
We argue for a different physical interpretation of the results given in the recent Letter by Painter et al. [Opt. Lett. 31, 3471 (2006)] in which an elongated Ti:saphire beam with two distinct waists is considered as direct evidence of laser filamentation. As the pulse power is well below the critical power for self-focusing, the authors pleaded for new examination of the value for He. A three-dimensional numerical modeling, using the published value for He, reproduces very well the measured data and invalidates the filamentation hypothesis.
© 2007 Optical Society of America
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