Experimental and theoretical analyses of a correlation between pump-pulse propagation and harmonic yield in a long-interaction medium

We performed experimental and theoretical analyses of a correlation between pump pulse propagation and harmonic yield in Ar and Xe, in a long static gas cell, at high pumping energies, for loose focusing geometry, using 35-fs pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser. Axial and transverse profiles of the plasma column were measured under several experimental conditions with the aim of characterizing the pulse propagation. From the plasma fluorescence...