White light generation over three octaves by femtosecond filament at 3.9 μm in argon

We report the first (to our knowledge) experimental results and numerical simulations on mid-IR femtosecond pulse filamentation in argon using 0.1 TW peak-power, 80 fs, 3.9 mu m pulses. A broadband supercontinuum spanning the spectral range from 350 nm to 5 mu m is generated, whereby about 4% of the mid-IR pulse energy is converted into the 350-1700 nm spectral region. These mid-IR-visible coherent continua offer a new, unique tool for time-resolved spectroscopy based on a mid-IR filamentation laser source. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America