Abstract : Most long-path remote spectroscopic studies of the atmosphere rely on ambient light or narrow-band lasers. High-power femtosecond laser pulses have been found to propagate in the atmosphere as dynamically self-guided filaments that emit in a continuum from the ultraviolet to the infrared. This white light exhibits a directional behavior with enhanced backward scattering and was detected from an altitude of more than 20 kilometers. This light source opens the way to white-light and nonlinear light detection and ranging applications for atmospheric trace-gas remote sensing or remote identification of aerosols. Air ionization inside the filaments also opens promising perspectives for laser-induced condensation and lightning control. The mobile femtosecond-terawatt laser system, Teramobile, has been constructed to study these applications.
https://hal-polytechnique.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00463648
Contributor : Aurélien Houard
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Submitted on : Saturday, March 13, 2010 - 9:29:14 PM
Last modification on : Thursday, November 21, 2019 - 2:11:20 AM
Jérôme Kasparian, Miguel Rodríguez, Guillaume Méjean, Jin Yu, Estelle Salmon, et al.. White-Light Filaments for Atmospheric Analysis. Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2003, 301 (5629), pp.61-64. ⟨10.1126/science.1085020⟩. ⟨hal-00463648⟩
