Curved plasma channel generation using ultraintense Airy beams

Area of Science:

• Nonlinear optics
• Plasma physics
• Laser-matter interactions

Background:

• Plasma channel generation, or filamentation, with ultraintense laser pulses is crucial for applications like remote sensing and terahertz generation.
• Conventional laser filamentation typically uses axially symmetric beams, resulting in straight plasma channels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally observe and characterize curved plasma channels generated in air.
• To investigate the propagation dynamics of femtosecond Airy beams and their resulting plasma structures.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing femtosecond Airy beams, which possess an axially nonsymmetric spatial profile.
• Experimental generation and observation of plasma channels in air.

Main Results:

• Successfully generated curved plasma channels in air, a departure from straight filaments.
• Observed secondary channels bifurcating from the primary curved channel.
• Demonstrated that broadband radiation from different sections of the curved filament propagates along distinct angular trajectories.

Conclusions:

• Femtosecond Airy beams enable the generation of curved plasma channels in air.
• This unusual propagation regime offers new pathways for controlling laser-induced plasma structures.
• The findings have implications for advanced laser applications requiring tailored plasma channel geometries.