382 OPTICS LETTERS / Vol. 23, No.

5 / March 1, 1998

Dynamic spatial replenishment of femtosecond

pulses propagating in air
M. Mlejnek, E. M. Wright, and J. V. Moloney
Arizona Center for Mathematical Sciences, and Optical Sciences Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721

Received September 9, 1997

We present numerical simulations of nonlinear pulse propagation in air whereby an initial pulse is formed,
absorbed by plasma generation, and subsequently replenished by power from the trailing edge of the pulse.
This process can occur more than once for high-power input pulses and produce the illusion of long-distance
propagation of one self-guided pulse.  1998 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: 320.2250, 190.3270, 190.5650, 260.5950, 260.5210, 010,1300.

The observation of long-distance apparently self-
guided pulses in air1 – 5 has attracted much recent
interest, and applications of these pulses in communi-
cations and lightning channeling have been envis-
aged.3 The basic phenomenon characterized by long
filaments and propagation over tens of meters is not in
dispute, but the physical mechanism underlying it
has still to be uncovered in detail. Early discussions
centered on the idea that nonlinear self-focusing (SF)
in air would be countered by the defocusing effect
of the electron plasma generated by multiphoton
absorption (MPA) and result in a stable self-guided
beam. Numerical simulations showing stabilization
of the peak field intensity were presented in Refs. 1
and 6, and Brodeur et al.5 used the moving-focus model
to explain the features of their experiments.
In this Letter we present numerical simulations
of nonlinear pulse propagation in air to elucidate
the physical mechanisms involved. Our study
includes the effects of SF, MPA, group-velocity dis-
persion (GVD), and absorption and defocusing owing
to the generated electron density.7,8 Although our
simulations have not been validated against current
experiments, it is clear that they do not yield re-
sults resembling the self-guiding picture. Instead a
dynamic picture emerges in which pulses form, are
absorbed, and are subsequently replenished by new
pulses, thereby creating the illusion of one pulse that
is self-guided.
Our model for pulse propagation in air is a nonlinear
extension of a model by Feit and Fleck.7 If we assume
propagation along the z axis, the equation for the
slowly varying electric-f ield envelope E sr, z, td in a
reference frame moving at the group velocity is8
µ ∂
≠E i ≠2 1 ≠ ik 00 ≠2 E s Eg ­ 11 eV that is representative of the constituents
­ 1 E 2 2 s1 1 ivtd
≠z 2k ≠r 2 r ≠r 2 ≠t2 2
b sKd
3 rE 2 jE j2K22 E
2 10213 s (typical value from Ref. 7), and a ­ 5.0 3
1 ik0 s1 2 f dn2 jE j2 E 1 ik0 fn2
∑Z ` ∏ taken as k00 ­ 2.0 fs2 cm21 , and we shall comment on
3 dt0 Rst 2 t0 djE st0 dj2 E ,
2`
where the terms on the right-hand side describe
transverse diffraction, GVD, absorption and defocusing
0146-9592/98/050382-03$10.00/0
owing to the electron plasma, MPA, and nonlinear
SF. Here v is the optical frequency, jE j2 is the
intensity, k ­ nb k0 ­ nb vyc, k00 ­ ≠2 ky≠v 2 , r is the
electron density, s is the cross section for inverse
bremsstrahlung, t is the electron collision time, b sKd is
the K-photon absorption coeff icient, and the nonlinear
change in refractive index for a cw field is n2 jEj2 . The
critical power for SF collapse for cw f ields is then Pcr ­
0.159l02ynb n2 . The normalized response function Rstd
accounts for delayed nonlinear effects, and f is the
fraction of the cw nonlinear optical response that has
its origin in the delayed component. The evolution
of the electron density is described by the Drude
model7,8:
≠r 1 s b sKd jE j2K
­ 2 rjE j2 1 2 ar 2 . (2)
≠t nb Eg K h̄v
The first term on the right-hand side of Eq. (2) de-
scribes the growth of the electron plasma by cascade
(avalanche) ionization, the second term is the contri-
bution of MPA, and the third term describes radiative
electron recombination. We are interested in solutions
of Eqs. (1) and (2) for an input-collimated Gaussian
beam E sr, 0, td ­ s2Pin ypw02 d1/2 exps2r 2 yw02 2 t2 ytp2 d,
where Pin is the peak input power, w0 is the spot size,
and tp characterizes the pulse length. The Rayleigh
range of the input beam is given by z0 ­ pw02 nb yl0 .
For the numerical simulations presented here we
chose an operating wavelength l0 ­ 775 nm, w0 ­
0.7 mm, for which the Rayleigh range is z0 ­ 2 m,
and tp ­ 85 fs. The material parameters employed in
our simulations for air at STP are as follows: nb ø
1.0 and n2 ­ 5.57 3 10223 m2 yW,9 giving a critical
power of Pcr ­ 1.7 GW. We used the ionization energy
of the air. This yields K ­ 7 for the order of the
MPA, and b s7d ­ 6.5 3 102104 m11 W26 for the MPA
coefficient from the Keldysh theory.10 Also, t ­ 3.5 3
10213 m3 ys. We calculated s ­ 5.1 3 10224 m2 , using
s ­ ske2 tyvme0 dyf1 1 svtd2 g.7 The GVD for air was
(1) using other values. We checked the numerical results
by doubling the space and time resolution, which led
to no significant changes in the behavior of the results
presented here.
 1998 Optical Society of America
 March 1, 1998 / Vol. 23, No. 5 / OPTICS LETTERS 383

Nibbering et al.9 showed that air exhibits a delayed followed by the trailing pulse, whereas in the pulse-
nonlinear response owing to rotational Raman scat- splitting case of two pulses develop simultaneously.
tering with f ­ 1y2. Their research shows that the In analogy to pulse splitting, the signature of the
response function Rstd initially undergoes a damped double pulse in Fig. 2(a) will be a modulated spec-
harmonic motion, followed by spontaneous resur- trum,13 with period Dl ø l02ycT , or for T ­ 200 fs and
gences for times longer than 2 ps. For the sub- Dl ­ 10 nm. Figure 2(b) shows the spectrum of the
picosecond pulses considered here the resurgences double pulse in Fig. 2(a), and one can see the develop-
are not relevant, so we can model the response ment of a spectral modulation with a 10-nm period.
function by use of a damped oscillator model Rstd ­ To expose the physics of the development of the
stepstdV 2 exps2Gty2dsinsLtdyL, where L ­ sV 2 2 trailing-edge pulse, we note that the leading edge pulse
G 2 y4d1/2 , and we used V ­ 20.6 THz and G ­ 26 THz to at z ­ 0.55 m, shown in Fig. 2(a), has its maximum
mimic the exact response function given in Ref. 9. displaced by 250 fs from the input pulse (dotted curve).
Figure 1 shows the global maximum of the on- This displacement occurs because as the input pulse
axis intensity over time as a function of propagation focuses and the intensity increases, an electron density
distance z for peak input powers of 5.5Pcr , 6.0Pcr , is generated by MPA and cascade ionization, which
and 6.5Pcr . In each case the maximum intensity produces a defocusing effect that is more pronounced
initially grows explosively owing to SF but is then for the trailing portion of the pulse. This result is
limited by MPA and absorption and defocusing owing to confirmed by the fact that the trailing edge of the
the electron density.1,6 After the intensity is limited,
it remains fairly constant to a distance of ,2 m,
or roughly a Rayleigh range, after which it decays.
This observation is in agreement with the moving-
focus prediction by Brodeur et al.5 that light filaments
should end at a Rayleigh range of the input beam; an
exception is the case Pin ­ 6.5Pcr , which we comment
on below.
Figure 1 reveals a notch in the curves at which
dI ydz is discontinuous. To analyze this notch, we
show the on-axis pulse prof iles in Fig. 2(a) for z ­ 0,
0.55, 1.1 m for the case Pin ­ 6.5Pcr , and we show that
the temporal compression effect owing to SF (Ref. 11) Fig. 1. Global maximum over time of the on-axis intensity
as a function of propagation distance z for peak input
caused the pulse to contract, resulting in a single-
powers of 5.5Pcr (dashed – dotted curve), 6.0Pcr (dashed
peaked pulse. At this stage the peak-intensity growth curve), and 6.5Pcr (solid curve).
is limited but the temporal pulse compression proceeds
until it is stopped by the normal GVD.12,13 In general,
if the normal GVD is too small this compression
proceeds until the numerical scheme breaks down and
(or) the envelope approximations underlying the model
break down. We plan to investigate other linear and
(or) nonlinear terms that may become important in
this regime, e.g., shock and nonparaxial terms, in
the future. For the value of GVD employed here
the pulse compression is arrested before the model
and the numerics are violated. For a propagation
distance of z ­ 1.1 m one can see that the pulse
prof ile shows two peaks separated temporally by T ø
200 fs. The leading peak, occurring at earlier times,
is directly associated with the single peak at z ­
0.55 m, and the trailing peak develops out of the
background. On further propagation the leading peak
decays while the trailing one remains, until it too
decays at roughly a Rayleigh range. The notch in
the intensity curve is therefore explained as that
propagation distance at which the increasing trailing
peak takes over from the decreasing leading peak as
the global maximum. We also note that a similar
notch was experimentally and numerically observed in
Fig. 2. (a) On-axis normalized f ield amplitude jE s0, t, zdj
the filament-energy measurements of Ref. 5. as a function of time at z ­ 0 (dotted curve), z ­ 0.55 m
The double-pulse prof ile shown in Fig. 2(a) is remi- (dashed curve), and z2 ­ 1.1 m (solid curve) and (b)
niscent of the pulse-splitting phenomenon for nonlinear the corresponding spectral intensities versus wavelength,
pulse propagation with normal GVD.12,13 Here, nor- which we obtained by taking the modulus squared of the
mal GVD plays a role in that it arrests the tempo- Fourier transformed on-axis fields. Both plots are for
ral compression, but the leading pulse develops first, peak input power 6.5Pcr .
384 OPTICS LETTERS / Vol. 23, No. 5 / March 1, 1998
Fig. 3. Transverse normalized electric-f ield amplitude
prof iles for time slice t ­ 70 fs, at which the trailing pulse
forms for z ­ 0, 55, 110 cm, for peak input power 6.5Pcr .
pulse (dashed curve) is reduced with respect to the
input (dotted curve). To elucidate further we show
in Fig. 3 the spatial prof iles for propagation distances
z ­ 0, 0.55, 1.1 m and for time slice t ­ 70 fs, which
is that time slice at which the trailing pulse forms
[see Fig. 2(a)]. The input beam profile is Gaussian
(dotted curve), but for z ­ 0.55 m the central intensity
is suppressed with respect to the input, the beam
power having been displaced into a spatial ring by
the defocusing effect. However, for z ­ 1.1 m the
beam prof ile has relocalized on axis: This spatial
defocusing of the trailing portion of the pulse into a
ring and subsequent relocalization into a strong peak
by SF is the physical mechanism by which the trailing-
edge pulse forms. Refocusing of the trailing edge of
the pulse was also noted by Kosareva et al.14 (they
do not include GVD), using a similar model including
tunneling ionization. There are also indications from
experiments that the energy outside the self-guided
channel is important for the prolonged propagation
of pulses in air.4 The process of pulse decay and
replenishment can occur more than once: The solid
curve in Fig. 2(a) shows the growth of a second trailing-
edge pulse beyond the Rayleigh range z0 ­ 2 m, and
this again is due to the relocalization of power that is
initially displaced into a spatial ring by the defocusing
effect of the plasma. We remark that the occurrence
of the second trailing-edge pulse in our numerical
simulations was dependent on including the delayed
nonlinear response owing to the rotational Raman
scattering.
In summary, we have presented numerical simula-
tions to expose the physics underlying long-distance
propagation in air. We have shown that although the
maximum intensity stabilizes over roughly a Rayleigh
range, in agreement with the moving-focus model of
Brodeur et al.,5 the evolution of the pulse is dynamic,
involving the development of a leading-edge pulse that
subsequently decays and is replaced by a new pulse.
In addition, our simulations indicate that inclusion
of rotational Raman scattering9 permits high-power
pulses to continue the process of pulse decay and re-
plenishment beyond the Rayleigh range limit. There
is also a potential link between the spatial ring forma-
tion predicted here and the conical emission observed
in Ref. 4.
This effort was sponsored by the U.S. Air Force Of-
fice of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Air Force Materiel
Command, U.S. Air Force, grants AFOSR-97-1-0002
and AFOSR-94-1-0463. E. Wright was also supported
by AFOSR contract F49620-94-1-0343.
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