Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
Nonlinear effects can lead to "self-focusing" collapse when the power in a laser beam exceeds a critical power. This process imposes an upper limit on the power that can be transmitted through a medium. For ultrashort laser pulses, the collapse dynamics is highly complex and under certain conditions can prove useful, as Gaeta explains in his Perspective. The resulting dynamical behavior can lead to the emission of a broad spectrum of radiation and to the spatial confinement of the laser beam for distances far beyond those allowed by linear diffraction. A collaboration of research scientists has developed the Teramobile (see also the review by Kasparian et al.), which exploits these effects for the remote sensing of chemical species and aerosols in the lower atmosphere.
The author is in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA. E-mail: a.gaeta{at}cornell.edu
The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:
In Science Magazine
REVIEW
J. Kasparian, M. Rodriguez, G. Méjean, J. Yu, E. Salmon, H. Wille, R. Bourayou, S. Frey, Y.-B. André, A. Mysyrowicz, R. Sauerbrey, J.-P. Wolf, and L. Wöste (4 July 2003) Science301 (5629), 61.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1085020] |Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
White-Light Filaments for Atmospheric Analysis.
J. Kasparian, M. Rodriguez, G. Mejean, J. Yu, E. Salmon, H. Wille, R. Bourayou, S. Frey, Y.-B. Andre, A. Mysyrowicz, et al. (2003)
Science
301, 61-64
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
