Inhibition of multi-filamentation of high-power laser beams

Opt Lett. 2016 Sep 1;41(17):4064-7. doi: 10.1364/OL.41.004064.

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate the control and complete elimination of multi-filamentation in condensed matter by varying the focusing geometry. In particular, increasing the input beam power enables the extension of the filament length without generating multi-filaments up to 1400 times the critical power in fused silica at an 800 nm wavelength. Furthermore, the generated single filament exhibits spatial solitary wave behavior.