M. Petrarca, S. Henin, K. Stelmaszczyk, S. Bock, S. Kraft, U. Schramm, C. Vaneph, A. Vogel, J. Kasparian, R. Sauerbrey, Konradin Weber, L. Wöste, J.-P. Wolf
- Using 100 TW laser pulses, we demonstrate that laser-induced nanometric particle generation in air increases much faster than the beam-averaged incident intensity. This increase is due to a contribution from the photon bath, which adds up with the previously identified one from the filaments and becomes dominant above 550 GW/cm2. It appears related to ozone formation via multiphoton dissociation of the oxygen molecules and demonstrates the critical need for further increasing the laser energy in view of macroscopic effects in laser-induced condensation.