title: Effect of a plasma grating on pump-probe experiments near the ionization threshold in gases.
abstract: Calculations are performed of the phase shift caused by the spatial modulation in the plasma density due to interference between a strong pump pulse and a weak probe pulse. It is suggested that a recent experiment [Opt. Express 17, 13429 (2009)] observed an effective birefringence from this plasma grating rather than from the higher-order Kerr effect.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Wahlstrand
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Milchberg