Dynamics of the strong field of a few-cycle optical pulse in a dielectric medium

The dependence of the conditions for the dominance of different physical factors in the self-action of few-cycle optical pulses in dielectrics on the intensity, duration, and spectrum of radiation has been theoretically analyzed. It is shown that the larger the pulse width and the central wavelength, the stronger the effect of plasma nonlinearity. For example, for a quartz glass in the field of pulses with a duration of 10 fs and a central wavelength of 780 nm, this nonlinearity mechanism is dominant at intensities exceeding 3 × 1013 W cm-2. © Allerton Press, Inc. 2007.