Laser beam self-symmetrization in air in the multifilamentation regime

Carles Milián (1) , Vytautas Jukna (1) , Arnaud Couairon (1) , Aurélien Houard (2) , Benjamin Forestier (2) , Jérôme Carbonnel (2) , Y Liu (2) , Bernard Prade (2) , A Mysyrowicz (2)

1 CPHT - Centre de Physique Théorique [Palaiseau]
2 LOA - Laboratoire d'optique appliquée

We show experimental and numerical evidence of spontaneous self-symmetrization of focused laser beams experiencing multi-filamentation in air. The symmetrization effect is observed as the multiple filaments generated prior to focus approach the focal volume. This phenomenon is attributed to the nonlinear interactions amongst the different parts of the beam mediated by the optical Kerr effect, which leads to a symmetric redistribution of the wave vectors even when the beam consists of a bundle of many filaments.

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

Carles Milián, Vytautas Jukna, Arnaud Couairon, Aurélien Houard, Benjamin Forestier, et al.. Laser beam self-symmetrization in air in the multifilamentation regime. Journal of Physics B: Atomic and Molecular Physics, 2015, 48, pp.094013. ⟨10.1088/0953-4075/48/9/094013⟩. ⟨hal-01160264⟩