Amplification of transition-Cherenkov terahertz radiation of femtosecond filament in air

Yi Liu (1) , Aurélien Houard (1) , Bernard Prade (1) , André Mysyrowicz (1) , Abdourahmane Diaw (2) , Vladimir Tikhonchuk (2)

1 LOA - Laboratoire d'optique appliquée
2 CELIA - Centre d'Etudes Lasers Intenses et Applications

The transition-Cherenkov terahertz radiation from a femtosecond laser filament in air is enhanced by three orders of magnitude in the presence of a longitudinal static electric field, while the radiation pattern and the polarization remain the same. An amplified longitudinal electron current inside the filament is responsible for this amplified terahertz emission.

Keywords: terahertz; filament; nonlinear optics

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]

Yi Liu, Aurélien Houard, Bernard Prade, André Mysyrowicz, Abdourahmane Diaw, et al.. Amplification of transition-Cherenkov terahertz radiation of femtosecond filament in air. Applied Physics Letters, 2008, 93 (5), pp.051108. ⟨10.1063/1.2965612⟩. ⟨hal-00458429⟩