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Cascaded amplification of air lasing.
Xu Lu1,2, Siyi He1,2, Pengyu Xue1,3
1State Key Laboratory of Ultra-intense Laser Science and Technology, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China.
Science Advances
|September 26, 2025
Summary
Researchers boosted air lasing energy by 40-fold using a cascaded amplification strategy. This breakthrough enhances remote sensing capabilities and enables sensitive standoff chemical analysis.
Area of Science:
- Optics and Photonics
- Laser Physics
- Spectroscopy
Background:
- Air lasing, initiated by femtosecond laser filamentation, shows promise for remote sensing.
- Low output energies from current air lasing techniques limit practical applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To overcome the energy limitations of air lasing.
- To enhance the practical applicability of air lasing for remote sensing and chemical analysis.
Main Methods:
- Implemented a quadruple-pass focusing strategy with femtosecond laser pulses in nitrogen.
- Utilized a cascaded amplification approach to boost lasing energy.
Main Results:
- Achieved a 40-fold enhancement in air lasing energy, reaching approximately 4.4 microjoules.
- Reduced the lasing threshold by nearly 70%.
- Observed spectral broadening of pump pulses and pulse duration compression of the lasing output.
Conclusions:
- The cascaded amplification strategy effectively addresses the energy bottleneck in air lasing.
- Developed a sensitive single-beam coherent Raman spectroscopy for simultaneous multi-species detection.
- Presents a viable approach for standoff chemical analysis using commercially available femtosecond lasers.
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