Forward THz radiation emission by femtosecond filamentation in gases: theory and experiment

Ciro d'Amico (1) , Aurélien Houard (1) , Selcuk Akturk (1) , Yi Liu (1) , J. Le Bloas (2) , Michel A. Franco (1) , Bernard Prade (1) , Arnaud Couairon (3) , Vladimir Tikhonchuk (2) , André Mysyrowicz (1)

1 LOA - Laboratoire d'optique appliquée
2 CELIA - Centre d'Etudes Lasers Intenses et Applications
3 CPHT - Centre de Physique Théorique [Palaiseau]

A transition–Cherenkov electromagnetic emission by a femtosecond laser pulse propagating in a self-induced plasma channel in air has been very recently proposed as mechanism for production of terahertz (THz) radiation in the forward direction. In this paper, we study in detail the theory of the transition–Cherenkov process. The theoretical model is developed and compared with recent experimental results for several gases.

Keywords: laser; filament; terahertz

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]

Ciro d'Amico, Aurélien Houard, Selcuk Akturk, Yi Liu, J. Le Bloas, et al.. Forward THz radiation emission by femtosecond filamentation in gases: theory and experiment. New Journal of Physics, 2008, 10, pp.013015. ⟨10.1088/1367-2630/10/1/013015⟩. ⟨hal-00454582⟩