Abstract

The interplay between Kerr self-focusing and plasma-induced defocusing gives rise to filament formation. In self-generated filaments, femtosecond pulses experience strong spatial and temporal shaping effects. One of their most surprising properties is self-compression, i.e., pulse shortening during filamentary propagation [1]. For examining the self-compression regime, experimental set-ups use windowed cells, allowing for careful optimization of the pressure that gives rise to maximum self-compression. Despite their thousandfold higher nonlinear index that should immediately give rise to multiple filamentation or pulse break-up [2], these windows have been disregarded in all previous numerical modeling. Here we will show that the integrity of self-compressed pulses is not necessarily destroyed despite the severe discontinuity of dispersion and nonlinearity. Self-healing of distortions take place in a subsequent atmospheric propagation stage.

© 2009 IEEE