1. Transient mid-IR nonlinear refraction in air
- Author
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David J. Hagan, Natalia Munera, Eric W. Van Stryland, Salimeh Tofighi, and Matthew Reichert
- Subjects
Physics ,business.industry ,Magnitude (mathematics) ,02 engineering and technology ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,01 natural sciences ,Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics ,010309 optics ,Atmosphere ,Optics ,Position (vector) ,0103 physical sciences ,Dispersion (optics) ,High harmonic generation ,Transient (oscillation) ,0210 nano-technology ,business ,Refractive index ,Excitation - Abstract
We use the polarization-sensitive, time-resolved Beam-Deflection technique to measure the nonlinear refraction of air, exciting in both the near and mid-IR and probing in the mid-IR. This gives us the first measurements for air using both excitation and probe in the mid-IR, and we find no dispersion of the bound-electronic nonlinear refractive index, n2,el(λ p ;λ e ), assuming, as has been shown earlier, that the nuclear rotational nonlinear refraction is nearly dispersionless. From these data, we can model the pulsewidth dependence of the effective nonlinear refractive index, n2,eff, i.e., as would be measured by a single beam. Interestingly, n2,eff is maximized for a pulsewidth of approximately 0.5 ps. The position of this maximum is nearly independent of pressure while its magnitude decreases with increasing pressure and temperature. From the measurements and modeling, we predict the nonlinear refraction in the atmosphere at different altitudes.
- Published
- 2021
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