title: Trapping and destruction of long-range high-intensity optical filaments by molecular quantum wakes in air.
abstract: We report the first observation of the strong effect of quantum rotational wave packets in atmospheric air on the long-range filamentary propagation of intense femtosecond laser pulses. In a pump-probe experiment, we find that the probe filament can be sucked into the pump filament's molecular quantum wake and trapped or be destroyed by it.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Varma
authors.forename: Y-H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Milchberg