Long range robust multi-terawatt MWIR and LWIR atmospheric light bullets

Jerome V. Moloney; Kolja Schuh; Paris Panagiotopoulos; M. Kolesik; S. W. Koch

doi:10.1117/12.2262142

8 May 2017 Long range robust multi-terawatt MWIR and LWIR atmospheric light bullets

Jerome V. Moloney, Kolja Schuh, Paris Panagiotopoulos, M. Kolesik, S. W. Koch

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Proceedings Volume 10193, Ultrafast Bandgap Photonics II; 101930K (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2262142
Event: SPIE Defense + Security, 2017, Anaheim, CA, United States

Abstract

There is a strong push worldwide to develop multi-Joule femtosecond duration laser pulses at wavelengths around 3.5-4 and 9-11μm within important atmospheric transmission windows. We have shown that pulses with a 4 μm central wavelength are capable of delivering multi-TW powers at km range. This is in stark contrast to pulses at near-IR wavelengths which break up into hundreds of filaments with each carrying around 5 GW of power per filament over meter distances. We will show that nonlinear envelope propagators fail to capture the true physics. Instead a new optical carrier shock singularity emerges that can act to limit peak intensities below the ionization threshold leading to low loss long range propagation. At LWIR wavelengths many-body correlations of weakly-ionized electrons further suppress the Kerr focusing nonlinearity around 10μm and enable whole beam self-trapping without filaments.

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Jerome V. Moloney, Kolja Schuh, Paris Panagiotopoulos, M. Kolesik, and S. W. Koch "Long range robust multi-terawatt MWIR and LWIR atmospheric light bullets", Proc. SPIE 10193, Ultrafast Bandgap Photonics II, 101930K (8 May 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2262142

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KEYWORDS

Atmospheric propagation

Ionization

Wave propagation

Long wavelength infrared

Mid-IR

Electrons

Physics

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