Competition between multiphoton/tunnel ionization and filamentation induced by powerful femtosecond laser pulses in air

In this work we present experiments by focusing 42 femtosecond laser pulses in air using three differentfocal length lenses: f=100, 30 and 5 cm. For the longest focal length, only the filament, which is aweak plasma column,is observed. When the shorter focal length lens is used, a high density plasma isgenerated near the geometrical focus and coexists with a weak plasma channel of the filamemt. Under thetightest focusing condition, filamentation is prevented and only a strong plasma volume appears at tehgeometrical focus.

In this work we present experiments by focusing 42 femtosecond laser pulses in air using three different focal length lenses: f=100, 30 and 5 cm. For the longest focal length, only the filament, which is a weak plasma column, is observed. When the shorter focal length lens is used, a high density plasma is generated near the geometrical focus and coexists with a weak plasma channel of the filament. Under the tightest focusing condition, filamentation is prevented and only a strong plasma volume appears at the geometrical focus.