Self-phase modulation of a ultra-short laser pulse from laser breakdown plasma

The detailed dynamic of an atom in a laser field with strength comparable to the atomic electric field is rich in physics and potential applications. Laser-breakdown plasma-induced spectral shifting in supersonic rare gases jet has been investigated with a sub-picosecond KrF excimer laser focused to peak intensity in the region of 10(15)W/cm(2). A 1.4mm diameter gas jet target was used in the experiment to minimize the refraction of the laser beam and thus a well-defined focused region was obtained. The typical quasi-periodic spectral shifting structures for helium and argon have been measured at various gas densities. For gas densities below 1 x 10(20) cm(-3), both spectral red-shift and blue-shift were observed, indicating the gas is partially ionized, in contrast to the predominantly blue shifted as the gas densities grows high and fully ionized. Compared to the other ultra-short pulse measurement methods, qualitative information about the pulse can be deduced by observing their spectrum after interacting with rare gas.