Limits in high energy laser pulse compression using gas-filled hollow fibres

摘要

The production of high-energy ultra-short laser pulses in gas-filled hollow fibres is now a well-established technique. Below a specific critical power, the smoothness of spatial and temporal profiles of input pulses is not perturbed during propagation. However, gas ionization and pulse filamentation occur above that critical power strongly disrupting the pulse profiles. Both propagation regimes in argon are numerically studied for two different propagation configurations: free gas and gas filled hollow fibre. Below critical power it is shown the pulse is spectrally broadened while maintaining smooth temporal and spatial profiles. Otherwise, these quantities show strong variations.