Numerical studies of third-harmonic generation in laser filament in air perturbed by plasma spot

Third-harmonic emission from laser filament intercepted by plasma spot is studied by numerical simulations. Significant enhancement of the third-harmonic generation is obtained due to the disturbance of the additional plasma. The contribution of the pure plasma effect and the possible plasma-enhanced third-order susceptibility on the third-harmonic generation enhancement are compared. It is shown that the plasma induced cancellation of destructive interference [Y. Liu et al., Opt. Commun. 284, 4706 (2011)] of two-colored filament is the dominant mechanism of the enhancement of third-harmonic generation. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4737578]