Abstract

We report an experimental study on the behaviour of femtosecond Gaussian and vortex laser pulses during filamentation in turbulent water. The transverse and longitudinal wandering, intensity, and spectral broadening of the filamentation are evaluated. The results show that the filamentation of femtosecond vortex pulses is less affected by water turbulence than that of Gaussian pulses. Furthermore, the filamentation is less affected when the turbulence is located close or within the filamentation region, in contrast to the self-focusing region. These findings highlight the potential benefits of using femtosecond vortex pulse filaments in liquid-based applications.