1st Leibniz MMS Days - Abstract
Steinmeyer, Günther
Optical filamentation is a fascinating phenomenon, which may result in kilometer long plasma channels in the air, similar to those generated by lightning, yet completely straight without the tiniest bend or curve. Light can propagate along this self-generated plasma channel, virtually overcoming diffractive effects and experiencing strong spectral broadening into a white-light continuum. Despite its acknowledged beauty, filamentation is probably one of the most complicated processes in nonlinear optics. There is a vivid interaction between linear and nonlinear optics, which gives rise to the remarkable properties of filaments. These processes include spatial effects, such as self-focusing and diffraction, as well as multiphoton-ionization, the Raman effect, and group-velocity dispersion. In this contribution, we report on the results of a long-standing collaboration between the Weierstrass Institute on the modeling side and the Max Born Institute on the experimental side. Together, we explored self-compression of short pulses, the self-healing of short pulses after going through sudden changes of nonlinearity and dispersion, the saturation of the all-optical Kerr effect as well as a non-instantaneous response of the third-order nonlinear susceptibility in certain dielectric materials. Neither of these results would have been possible without the close interaction between numerical methods and experimental laser facilities as we find them in close proximity in the Forschungsverbund in Berlin.