title: Measurement of high order Kerr refractive index of major air components.
abstract: We measure the instantaneous electronic nonlinear refractive index of N(2), O(2) and Ar at room temperature for a 90 fs and 800 nm laser pulse. Measurements are calibrated by post-pulse molecular alignment through a polarization technique. At low intensity, quadratic coefficients n(2) are determined. At higher intensities, a strong negative contribution with a higher nonlinearity appears, which leads to an overall negative nonlinear Kerr refractive index in air above 26 TW/cm(2).
authors: Institut Carnot de Bourgogne, UMR 5209 CNRS-Université de Bourgogne, 21078 Dijon Cedex, France.
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Loriot
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Hertz
authors: O
authors: O
authors: Faucher
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Lavorel
mesh_terms: D000388:Air / Q000032:analysis*; D000465:Algorithms; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005740:Gases / Q000032:analysis*; D012031:Refractometry / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005740:Gases