High repetition rate ultrashort laser cuts a path through fog

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate that the transmission of a 1030~nm, 1.3~ps laser beam of 100 mJ energy through fog increases when its repetition rate increases to the kHz range. Due to the efficient energy deposition by the laser filaments in the air, a shockwave ejects the fog droplets from a substantial volume of the beam, at a moderate energy cost. This process opens prospects for applications requiring the transmission of laser beams through fogs and clouds.

11 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (2)

• Ultrashort filaments of light in weakly-ionized, optically-transparent media
• Higher-order Kerr terms allow ionization-free filamentation in gases

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Atmospheric aerosol clearing by femtosecond filaments
• Molecular Quantum Wakes for Clearing Fog
• High-power sub-picosecond filamentation at 1.03 μm with high repetition rates between 10 and 100 kHz
• Opto-mechanical expulsion of individual micro-particles by laser-induced shockwave in air
• Physics and technology of Laser Lightning Control