Measurement of high order Kerr refractive index of major air components.
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).
Loriot
V
V
Institut Carnot de Bourgogne, UMR 5209 CNRS-Université de Bourgogne, 21078 Dijon Cedex, France.
Hertz
E
E
Faucher
O
O
Lavorel
B
B
D000388:Air / Q000032:analysis*; D000465:Algorithms; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005740:Gases / Q000032:analysis*; D012031:Refractometry / Q000379:methods*
D005740:Gases