Temporal self-restoration of compressed optical filaments.
We numerically investigate the propagation of a self-compressed optical filament through a gas-glass-gas interface. Few-cycle light pulses survive a sudden and short order-of-magnitude increase of nonlinearity and dispersion, even when all conservative estimates predict temporal spreading or spatial breakup. Spatiotemporal distortions are shown to self-heal upon further propagation when the pulse refocuses in the second gas. This self-healing mechanism has important implications for pulse compression techniques handled by filamentation and explains the robustness of such sources.
Bergé
L
L
CEA-DIF, DPTA, Bruyères-le-Châtel, 91297 Arpajon cedex, France.
Skupin
S
S
Steinmeyer
G
G