Abstract
In centrosymmetric media the nonlinear variation of the refractive index can be expressed in terms of a power series of the light intensity I: Δn = n2I +n4I2 +...+n2mIm. Usually higher-order nonlinearities are considered negligible compared to the leading third-order nonlinearity n2 (Kerr effect). A recent experiment measured the higher-order Kerr effect (HOKE) in gases [1], and this started a debate on how HOKE affects nonlinear beam-propagation dynamics. The observed saturation of the HOKE nonlinearity could lead to filamentation of femtosecond pulses in gases without plasma playing an active role [2]. The mechanism advocated in this case to arrest collapse of the wave packet was the saturation of the nonlinearity rather than the formation of plasma, as commonly accepted.
© 2013 IEEE
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