Interaction of two parallel femtosecond filaments at different wavelengths in air

We study the interaction of two parallel-launched femtosecond filaments at their fundamental-wave and second-harmonic frequencies in air. Besides the Kerr effect within the pulse duration, the impulsive alignment of the diatomic molecules in the fundamental-wave filament leads to controllable and field-free achievable attraction, fusion, or repulsion of the second-harmonic filament. The molecular-alignment-assisted filament interaction is further confirmed by the fluorescence intensity variation and spectral modulation of the second-harmonic filament at various molecular alignment revivals.