Femtosecond filamentation in turbulent air

Abstract

The influence of air turbulence on femtosecond laser filamentation is studied experimentally and numerically for laser powers of a few critical powers. Air turbulence in the path of the beam prior to filamentation induces a large pointing and formation instability attributed to an increase of the self-focusing distance and higher modulational instability in the presence of turbulence. By contrast, previously formed filaments are robust both in terms of beam pointing accuracy and survival when crossing turbulent air.