Abstract

Nonlinear interactions of a focused femtosecond laser with water can provide interesting optical phenomena. We observed intense scattered lights with multicolors at the surface of microbubbles formed by a focused femtosecond laser inside the water. This optical scattering phenomenon is found, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time since the invention of the femtosecond laser. The bubbles are formed rapidly before the emissions of colorful sparkling lights at a back-side point of water-vapor interface of the microbubbles. Analysis of the nonlinear optical processes, particularly spectral blueshift and broadening with filamentation hot spots in the water, explains the effect of multispectral scattering. This work may provide a new method for visualizing the filamentation hot spots and the corresponding frequency components in the focusing region by making use of the strong scattering at the water-vapor interface of the microbubbles.

© 2017 Optical Society of America

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