Ultrafast optical switching of an ionized medium by interfering ultrashort laser pulses

Multibeam ionization of gas and condensed-phase media with interfering ultrashort laser pulses can help to substantially increase the maximum field intensity and the density of free electrons attainable in the focus of the laser field relative to the regime of single-beam ionization. Multibeam ionization schemes offer new solutions for laser micro- and nanomachining, micro- and nanosurgery, spectral and temporal transformation of ultrashort light pulses, as well as remote sensing of the atmosphere. Subfemtosecond changes in the local refractive index induced in the regime of multibeam tunneling ionization enable the high-speed switching of optical signals.