Study on spatiotemporal evolution of chirped femtosecond laser pulses at specific spatial position during small-scale self-focusing

Abstract We experimentally study the spatiotemporal evolution of chirped femtosecond laser pulses at a specific spatial position, such as the modulation peak position (MPP), during small-scale self-focusing (SSSF). It is found that the spatial peak intensity at the MPP increases rapidly initially with increment of input power due to the effect of SSSF, however it becomes saturated at the higher power because the finite energy of the beam restraints increasing of the peak intensity at the MPP. The pulse width at the MPP is compressed gradually with rising power owing to the spatiotemporal coupling effect, which will reach the narrowest when the spatial peak intensity at the MPP reaches the maximum. Further, the influence of chirp on the pulse width evolution at the MPP is discussed theoretically. We find that the negative chirp accelerates the pulse width compression because the negative chirp enhances the process of SSSF, but the positive chirp is counterproductive. Our results may provide some helps for propagation and amplification of broadband laser pulses.