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Femtosecond Laser Filaments for Use in Sub-Diffraction-Limited Imaging and Remote Sensing
Published on: April 25, 2019
Gas-Solid Phase Transition in Laser Multiple Filamentation
D Mongin1, E Schubert1, N Berti1
1Université de Genève, GAP, Chemin de Pinchat 22, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland.
Physical Review Letters
|April 15, 2017
Summary
High-intensity laser beams transition from a gas-like state to a solid-like crystal structure. This phase transition occurs due to filament interactions in transparent media.
Area of Science:
- Nonlinear Optics
- Laser Physics
- Condensed Matter Physics
Background:
- Multiterawatt (TW) near-infrared laser beams propagate in transparent media, breaking into multiple filaments.
- Filaments exhibit high peak intensities (10-100 TW/cm²) and characteristic diameters (100-200 µm).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the phase transition behavior of multiterawatt laser filaments in transparent media.
- To analyze the interaction dynamics between laser filaments and their transition to ordered structures.
Main Methods:
- Observation of laser beam propagation and filament formation in transparent media.
- Analysis of filament clustering and spatial arrangement at varying incident beam intensities.
- Calculation of the interaction Hamiltonian between neighboring filaments, incorporating diffraction, Kerr self-focusing, and plasma generation.
Main Results:
- A phase transition is observed at incident beam intensities of 0.4 TW/cm².
- Above this threshold, filaments form solid-like two-dimensional crystals with a 2.7 mm lattice constant, independent of initial beam diameter.
- Below the threshold, a mixed phase state exists with localized filament clusters (gas-like) and sparse, non-interacting filaments.
Conclusions:
- The observed phenomenon mimics a thermodynamic gas-solid phase transition.
- The effective potential governing filament interactions resembles a Morse potential, with an equilibrium bond length matching the observed lattice constant.
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