Propagation of infrared ultrashort pulses in the air

The propagation of high peak-power beams in the atmosphere has been observed in field trials with visible-near infrared (VNIR). Longer infrared (IR) wavelengths beams have some propagation characteristics not tested in the VNIR field experiments. We identify some unique characteristics of IR ultrashort- ulse air propagation: greater transmission, much lower dispersion-induced chirp, lower sensitivity to atmospheric turbulence, and much larger critical power. We summarize the results of self-focusing theory applied to IR ultrashort pulse characteristics, apply the theory to predict the IR self-focusing distance, and show the theory is in close agreement with detailed numerical simulations including extinction and turbulence.