Dramatic enhancement of supercontinuum generation in elliptically-polarized laser filaments

Broadband laser sources based on supercontinuum generation in femtosecond laser filamentation have enabled applications from stand-off sensing and spectroscopy to the generation and self-compression of high-energy few-cycle pulses. Filamentation relies on the dynamic balance between self-focusing and plasma defocusing – mediated by the Kerr nonlinearity and multiphoton or tunnel ionization, respectively. The filament properties, including the supercontinuum generation, are therefore highly sensitive to the properties of both the laser source and the propagation medium. Here, we report the anomalous spectral broadening of the supercontinuum for filamentation in molecular gases, which is observed for specific elliptical polarization states of the input laser pulse. The resulting spectrum is accompanied by a modification of the supercontinuum polarization state and a lengthening of the filament plasma column. Our experimental results and accompanying simulations suggest that rotational dynamics of diatomic molecules play an essential role in filamentation-induced supercontinuum generation, which can be controlled with polarization ellipticity.