Third-harmonic generation in air by use of femtosecond radiation in tight-focusing conditions

Third-harmonic generation (THG) in air in tight-focusing conditions is presented. Variation of the pulse duration supplied optimal conditions for THG by femtosecond pulses that varied in the range 110-1300 fs. We show that this third-harmonic generation was caused by Kerr-induced phase variations of fundamental and harmonic beams. Various characteristics (laser intensity, focusing conditions, pulse duration, air pressure, etc.) of THG in air were analyzed to optimize this process. The THG conversion efficiency of 795 nm, 300 fs radiation was 1 X 10(-3). The harmonic radiation did not show considerable disruption of its spectral and spatial distribution in tight focusing conditions for intensities as high as 5 X 10(14) W cm(-2). (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.