From higher-order Kerr nonlinearities to quantitative modeling of third and fifth harmonic generation in argon

P. Béjot (1) , E. Hertz (1) , B. Lavorel (1) , J. Kasparian (2) , Jean-Pierre Wolf (2) , O. Faucher (1)

1 ICB - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne
2 GAP - Group of Applied Physics [Geneva]

The recent measurement of negative higher-order Kerr effect (HOKE) terms in gases has given rise to a controversial debate, fed by its impact on short laser pulse propagation. By comparing the experimentally measured yield of the third and fifth harmonics, with both an analytical and a full comprehensive numerical propagation model, we confirm the absolute and relative values of the reported HOKE indices.

Mots clés: Harmonic generation and mixing Femtosecond phenomena Ultrafast nonlinear optics Kerr effect Filamentation

Domaines: Physique Atomique [physics.atom-ph]

P. Béjot, E. Hertz, B. Lavorel, J. Kasparian, Jean-Pierre Wolf, et al.. From higher-order Kerr nonlinearities to quantitative modeling of third and fifth harmonic generation in argon. Optics Letters, 2011, 36 (6), pp.828. ⟨10.1364/OL.36.000828⟩. ⟨hal-00577651⟩