Propagation and absorption of high-intensity femtosecond laser radiation in diamond

Femtosecond interferometry has been used to experimentally study the photoexcitation of the electron subsystem of diamond exposed to femtosecond laser pulses of intensity 1011 to 1014 W cm(-2). The carrier concentration has been determined as a function of incident intensity for three harmonics of a Ti:sapphire laser (800, 400 and 266 nm). The results demonstrate that, in a wide range of laser fluences (up to those resulting in surface and bulk graphitisation), a well-defined multiphoton absorption prevails. We have estimated nonlinear absorption coefficients for pulsed radiation at lambda = 800 nm (four-photon transition) and at 400 and 266 nm (indirect and direct two-photon transitions, respectively). It has also been shown that, at any considerable path length of a femtosecond pulse in diamond (tens of microns or longer), the laser beam experiences a severe nonlinear transformation, determining the amount of energy absorbed by the lattice, which is important for the development of technology for diamond photostructuring by ultra-short pulses. The competition between wave packet self-focusing and the plasma defocusing effect is examined as a major mechanism governing the propagation of intense laser pulses in diamond.