title: Self-pinching of pulsed laser beams during filamentary propagation.
abstract: Competing nonlinear optical effects that act on femtosecond laser pulses propagating in a self-generated light filament may give rise to a pronounced radial beam deformation, similar to the z-pinch contraction of pulsed high-current discharges. This self-generated spatial beam contraction is accompanied by a pulse break-up that can be beneficially exploited for on-axis temporal compression of the pulse. The pinching mechanism therefore explains the recently observed self-compression and the complicated spatio-temporal shapes typical for filament propagation experiments.
authors.affiliation: Weierstrass-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik (WIAS), 10117 Berlin, Germany. bree@wias-berlin.de
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brée
authors.forename: Ayhan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Demircan
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Skupin
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bergé
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Steinmeyer