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Measurement of high order Kerr refractive index of major air components
1Institut Carnot de Bourgogne, UMR 5209 CNRS-Université de Bourgogne, 21078 Dijon Cedex, France.
Abstract:
We measure the instantaneous electronic nonlinear refractive index of N(2), O(2) and Ar at room temperature for a 90 fs and 800 nm laser pulse. Measurements are calibrated by post-pulse molecular alignment through a polarization technique. At low intensity, quadratic coefficients n(2) are determined. At higher intensities, a strong negative contribution with a higher nonlinearity appears, which leads to an overall negative nonlinear Kerr refractive index in air above 26 TW/cm(2).
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