Adaptive Optimization of Infrared Emission from Femtosecond Filaments

We investigated the single shot output characteristics in the infrared region for single filaments in air. The infrared emission could be enhanced up to a few orders of magnitude by use of adaptive optics. Sensor dazzling effects were studied with different optical setups. Furthermore, a large variety of complex single shot emission patterns could be isolated. The detected emission of spiral patterns suggests the possibility of spiral propagation of laser light. To automatically optimize special emission patterns an evolutionary algorithm with noise suppression was designed.