title: Laser filaments generated and transmitted in highly turbulent air.
abstract: The initiation and propagation of a filament generated by ultrashort laser pulses in turbulent air is investigated experimentally. A filament can be generated and propagated even after the beam has propagated through strongly turbulent regions, with structure parameters C(n)2 as many as 5 orders of magnitude larger than those encountered in the usual atmospheric conditions. Moreover, the filament's position within the beam is not affected by the interaction with a turbulent region. This remarkable stability is allowed by the strong Kerr refractive-index gradients generated within the filament, which exceed the turbulence-induced refractive-index gradients by 2 orders of magnitude.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Spectrométrie Ionic et Moléculaire, Unité Mixte de Recherche Associée au Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 5579, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 43 bd du 11 Novembre 1918, F-69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ackermann
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Méjean
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kasparian
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salmon
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Wolf