Plasma optical modulation for lasers based on the plasma induced by femtosecond pulses.

We present a theoretical and experimental study of plasma optical modulation for probe lasers based on the plasma induced by pump pulses. This concept relies on two co-propagating laser pulses in carbon disulfide, where a drive laser pulse first excites plasma channels while a following carrier laser pulse is modulated by the plasma. The modulation on the probe beam can be conveniently adjusted through electron density, plasma width, propagation distance of plasma, the power of pump lasers, or the pump beam's profile. The experimental results and theoretical solutions are very consistent, which fully illustrates that this method for plasma optical modulation is reasonable. This pump-probe method is also a potential measurement technique for inferring the on-axis plasma density shape.