Continuum generation in bulk materials from the deep UV to the infrared with pump pulse durations over the entire femtosecond regime

Abstract

We demonstrate continuum generation with pulses from the long femtosecond up to the picosecond regime. To understand the mechanism involved in this process we study the influence of the spectral width and the chirp of the pump pulses. We further investigate the threshold for stable continuum generation with smooth, plateau-like spectra from the deep ultraviolet to the infrared. We visualize the processes of the generation and study filament parameter such as length, diameter and observe multiple filamentation. This visualization allows us to determine and understand the temporal jitter of newly generated frequencies. © Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2013.