Coherence Measurement of White Light Emission from Femtosecond Laser Propagation in Air

Strong white light emission is observed from femtosecond laser propagation in air. The divergence angle of the white light emission is measured to be about 5mrad. Young’s double-slits and a Michelson interferometer are used to investigate the coherence. The wavelength components of the white light emission are identified to have a good spatial coherence and a coherence time of about 0.5ps.