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We present a demodulation method that partially compensates for the nonlinear and random transfer function of fiber-optic direct detection coherent Rayleigh optical time-domain reflectometry (C-OTDR). Specifically, the proposed method is shown to improve the detection of small amplitude, high-frequency dynamic optical fiber strain as it occurs in acoustic emission sensing. The method is applicable provided that the dynamic fiber strain to be sensed is known to affect a longer section of sensing fiber in a spatially homogeneous way. It is shown that this knowledge can be used to extract more quantitative information from the measured C-OTDR signal by averaging signal components from the affected fiber section in a suitable and efficient way. The theoretical basis of the method is developed and supporting experimental results are presented.

We experimentally and numerically characterize multiple filamentation of laser pulses with incident intensities of a few TW/cm2. Propagating 100 TW laser pulses over 42 m in air, we observe a new propagation regime where the filament density saturates. As also evidenced by numerical simulations in the same intensity range, the total number of filaments is governed by geometric constraints and mutual interactions among filaments rather than by the available power in the beam.

This paper reflects recent progress in the field of fluorescent polymer optical fiber sensors (F-POF) for partial discharge (PD) detection in high voltage (HV) cable accessories using optical-only PD detection by coincidence single photon counting. In experiments with artificial PD sources these sensors show the ability to detect optical emissions from picocoulomb-level PDs in a real-scale model of a translucent high voltage cable accessory. False positives (caused by detector noise) are efficiently suppressedwhile maintaining sufficient sensitivity,even when the sensor is located in an unfavorable position.

We present a technique to overcome the random transfer function of fiber-optic direct detection coherent optical time-domain reflectometry (C-OTDR). For this purpose, a standard optical fiber was treated by UV light in order to introduce local strongly scattering segments of definite size and distance to each other. Dynamic strain measurements were performed to demonstrate the sensory benefit in comparison to a non-manipulated fiber section. Our results show, that the modified fiber section exhibits a significant boost in strain sensitivity and in addition reduces the sensor dead time in a temperature-unstable environment as compared to a standard fiber.

We report on measurements performed with the broadband variant of Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy based on white-light Supercontinuum. Generated by filaments in a quartz block, the Supercontinuum was coupled into the stable optical cavity characterized by a high Q-factor of 104. The ring-down transients of selectively chosen wavelengths were registered sequentially, revealing a difference of their decay times. The demonstrated high precision of decay time measurement (10−4 relative error) opens the perspective for multiwavelength detection of absorbing species with sub ppb (10−9) sensitivity in the unprecedented broad spectral range of Supercontinuum. This is why we intend to call this technique Supercontinuum Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy. Finally, we used the Supercontinuum to quantify variations of the wavelength-dependent reflection coefficient of cavity mirrors; as we show, with an absolute accuracy of 10−6.

We present recent progress in our development of fibre-optic sensors for the detection of partial discharge (PD) in silicone cable accessories, based on detecting related low-level optical emission. We experimentally show that the sensitive optical detection of PD can dramatically enhance the performance of conventional electrical PD measurement in electromagnetically noisy environments, and that it can yield high sensitivity and specificity even when no synchronous electrical PD measurement is conducted. This is demonstrated using a real-scale model of a high voltage cable accessory with a surface-attached conventional thermoplastic fluorescent polymer optical fibre (F-POF) sensor. In order to increase light collection efficiency, as a prerequisite for a commercially competitive implementation using cost-efficient detectors, sensing fibres will have to be integrated into the silicone rubber insulation, close to the potential origin of PD-induced damage. This is the rationale for our efforts to develop elastomeric fluorescent sensing fibres, tailored to the requirements of the application. We discuss specific challenges to be tackled and report on the successful implementation of all-silicone rubber fluorescent POF, to our best knowledge for the first time.

Partial discharge in elastomeric high voltage insulations is a major reason for device failure. The special challenges of the high voltage environment limit the use of conventional acoustic emission sensors. Fibre-optic sensors can cope with these challenges thanks to their optical sensing principle and the use of all-dielectric materials. In this contribution, improvements to a previously introduced design of ultrasonic fibre-optic acoustic partial discharge sensors for elastomeric insulations are presented. The improved performance of fibre-optic acoustic sensors in detecting AC partial discharge is demonstrated. Furthermore, their ability to detect low-level damage processes in elastomeric insulation under DC dielectric stress is shown to outperform the highly sensitive electrical detection method.

In high-voltage facilities of power stations and transmission networks, discharge activities leading to catastrophic failure can occur. Early detection of partial discharges (PD) in polymeric insulations of HV cable terminations and joints is therefore increasingly important. This paper describes a monitoring methodology to detect PD activity in silicone elastomer by two independent fibre-optic sensor types. Fluorescent fibre-based sensors are sensitive to plasma optical emission already at the onset of PD while an acoustic fibre-optic sensor responds to acoustic emission from the PD during its progression. The sensitivities of both sensor types are compared, and it is demonstrated that they provide complementary information for fibre-optic sensor-based monitoring of high-voltage cable accessories.

We review the recent results about laser-induced condensation based on self-guided filaments generated by ultrashort laser pulses. After recalling the physico-chemistry of cloud particle formation in the atmosphere and the physics of laser filamentation, we discuss experimental results on laser-induced condensation and its relevance for modulating precipitation.

Triggering rain on demand is an old dream of mankind, with a huge potential socio-economical benefit. To date, efforts have mainly focused on cloud-seeding using silver salt particles. We demonstrate that self-guided ionized filaments generated by ultrashort laser pulses are also able to induce water-cloud condensation in the free, sub-saturated atmosphere. Potential contributing mechanisms include photo-oxidative chemistry and electrostatic effects. As well as revealing the potential for influencing or triggering water precipitation, laser-induced water condensation provides a new tool for the remote sensing of nucleation processes in clouds.

We experimentally measured the supercontinuum generation using 3-J, 30-fs laser pulses and measured white-light generation at the level of 1 J. Such high energy is allowed by a strong contribution to the continuum by the photon bath, as compared to the self-guided filaments. This contribution due to the recently observed congestion of the filament number density in the beam profile at very high intensity also results in a wider broadening for positively chirped pulses rather than for negatively chirped ones, similar to broadening in hollow-core fibers.

Because of the potential impact on agriculture and other key human activities, efforts have been dedicated to the local control of precipitation. The most common approach consists of dispersing small particles of dry ice, silver iodide, or other salts in the atmosphere. Here we show, using field experiments conducted under various atmospheric conditions, that laser filaments can induce water condensation and fast droplet growth up to several μm in diameter in the atmosphere as soon as the relative humidity exceeds 70%. We propose that this effect relies mainly on photochemical formation of p.p.m.-range concentrations of hygroscopic HNO3, allowing efficient binary HNO3–H2O condensation in the laser filaments. Thermodynamic, as well as kinetic, numerical modelling based on this scenario semiquantitatively reproduces the experimental results, suggesting that particle stabilization by HNO3 has a substantial role in the laser-induced condensation., Various methods have been investigated to locally control atmospheric precipitation. In this study, field experiments show that laser-induced condensation is initiated when the relative humidity exceeds 70%, and that this effect is largely a result of photochemical HNO3 formation.

We investigate the influence of laser parameters on laser assisted water condensation in the atmosphere. Pulse energy is the most critical parameter. Nanoparticle generation depends linearly on energy beyond the filamentation threshold. Shorter pulses are more efficient than longer ones with saturation at similar to 1.5 ps. Multifilamenting beams appear more efficient than strongly focused ones in triggering the condensation and growth of submicronic particles while polarization has a negligible influence on the process. The data suggest that the initiation of laser assisted condensation relies on the photodissociation of the air molecules rather than on their photoionization. (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3546172]

Based on both static (extended Kohler) and dynamic modelling, we investigate the influence of temperature, humidity, HNO3 initial concentration, as well as of the particle concentration, on the efficiency of HNO3-mediated laser-induced condensation. This mechanism is most efficient for low temperatures, high HNO3 concentration, and relative humidities. It is, however, still active up to 30 ◦ C, down to 70% relative humidity, and below the ppm level of HNO3. Furthermore, lower particle concentration minimizing the depletion of both HNO3 and water vapor is more favourable to particle growth. © 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3644591]

International audience; Lightning research needs on-demand lightning strikes, because of the random character of natural lightning. Lasers have been proposed as alternatives to the current technique using rocket-pulled wires, because they would expectedly provide more flexibility. However, high-energy, nanosecond lasers cannot provide long connected plasma channels. In contrast, we recently reported the triggering of electric events in thunderclouds using ultrashort laser pulses. Further improvements of the laser pulse sequence and experiment geometry are discussed.

International audience; We investigated the possibility to trigger real-scale lightning using ionized filaments generated by ultrashort laser pulses in the atmosphere. Under conditions of high electric field during two thunderstorms, we observed a statistically significant number of electric events synchronized with the laser pulses, at the location of the filaments. This observation suggests that corona discharges may have been triggered by filaments.

We have implemented and tested a reflective spatial light modulator capable of patterning the far field intensity distribution of an intense pulsed laser beam, leading to spatially regularized multiple filamentation in air.

We report on experimental results revealing the important role of linear diffraction in multiple filamentation of intense laser pulses propagating in air. We show that during the early stages of propagation the transverse energy redistribution is governed by the laws of classical optics, defining the initial conditions for subsequent filamentary breakup of the beam. This is done by introducing a smoothly varying transverse phase, resulting in deterministic multiple filamentation. The observations presented here indicate precise wave-front shaping as a way to control the highly nonlinear and otherwise turbulent aforesaid process, which is a prerequisite for a number of applications.

Due to potential of applications, self-trapping of a peak-power laser pulse in a so called filament became an intensively investigated phenomenon. In this paper we demonstrate experimentally advantages of using filaments for the remote laser induced plasma spectroscopy (LIBS). This novel approach can increase effective range of conventional LIBS system up to single kilometers. We also show that Fourier-limited pulse does not optimize LIBS signal, opening the perspective for the pulse shaping techniques in a break-down spectroscopy.© (2006) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

In this paper, ultrashort laser pulses while propagating in air undergo filamentation which results from a dynamic balance between Kerr lens focusing and defocusing on laser-induced micro plasma. Such equilibrium leads to a self-guided ionized channel, or filament, with a diameter on the order of 100 /spl mu/m, extending over long distances up to several hundreds of meters. Using the Teramobile laser system providing 250 mJ pulses of 100 fs duration, centered at 800 nm, we have shown that the beam propagation for multi-TW pulses is driven by the interplay between random nucleation of small-scale cells and relaxation to long waveguides. We compare experimental results with simulations. Also, a white-light supercontinuum is generated by self-phase modulation, and mixing with the generated third harmonic generation (THG) extends the spectrum down to 230 nm in the infrared, providing a promising light source for multiparameter remote sensing by Lidar.

International audience; We demonstrate that the capacity of ultrashort high-power laser pulses to trigger and guide high-voltage discharges can be significantly enhanced by a subsequent visible nanosecond laser pulse. The femtosecond pulse induces a bundle of filaments, which creates a conducting channel of low density and cold plasma connecting the electrodes. The subsequent laser pulse photodetaches electrons from O2- ions in the electrode leader. The resulting electrons allow efficient heating by Joule effect in a retroaction loop, resulting in a 5% reduction of the breakdown voltage.

International audience; The propagation of femtosecond terawatt laser pulses at reduced pressure (0.7 atm) is investigated experimentally. In such conditions, the non-linear refractive index n 2 is reduced by 30%, resulting in a slightly farther filamentation onset and a reduction of the filament number. However, the filamentation process, especially the filament length, is not qualitatively affected. We also show that drizzle does not prevent the filaments from forming and propagating.

At relative humidities above 70%, femtosecond laser filaments generate aerosol particles and water droplets in the atmosphere. The water vapour condensation and droplet stabilization are assured by soluble species produced in the laser plasma.

Linear diffraction was used to modulate intensity distribution across the femtosecond laser beam to create quasi regular arrays of filaments in fused silica. A fringe type of filament distributions (filament-fringe) were formed that could be controlled and observed over a distance of several millimeters. The difference of supercontinuum (SC) emission between individual filaments was also observed.

We performed simultaneous, multispectral CRDS measurements that for the first time use the Supercontinuum light source. We called this approach Supercontinuum Cavity Ring-Down Spectrography (SC CRDSpectrography) and successfully applied it to measuring the absorption spectrum of NO2 gas at a concentration of 2 ppm. The extrapolated sensitivity of our setup was much greater, about 5 ppb. The ppb sensitivity level is comparable to this obtainable with single wavelength dye-lasers based CRDS systems. It is, therefore, feasible to construct extremely broadband and sensitive CRDS devices basing on the SC CRDSpectrography scheme.

The authors demonstrate optimal control of the propagation of ultrashort, ultraintense (multiterawatt) laser pulses in air over distances up to 36m in a closed-loop scheme. They optimized three spectral ranges within the white-light continuum as well as the ionization efficiency. Optimization results in signal enhancements by typical factors of 2 and 1.4 for the target parameters. The optimization results in shorter pulses by reducing their chirp in the case of white-light continuum generation, while they correct the pulse from its defects and set the filamentation onset near the detector as far as air ionization is concerned.

A single crystal sapphire fiber pumped with ultrashort laser pulses was used to generate supercontinuum light. Its emission was next compared with this of the PCF based source in terms of the applicability to Multiwavelength-CRD-Spectrography.

Laser filaments interacting with cirrus like ice crystals produce a large number of small secondary ice particles by re-condensation of the released water vapor. This new phenomenon drastically modifies its radiative forcing