Impact of third-harmonic generation on the filamentation process

The impact of third-harmonic generation on the propagation dynamics of a filament is revisited in light of recent theoretical and experimental results [P. Bejot, G. Karras, F. Billard, E. Hertz, B. Lavorel, E. Cormier, and O. Faucher, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 203902 (2014)] showing the extreme sensitivity of ionization to a bichromatic field. By performing a thorough parametric study, it is shown that third-harmonic generation can deeply influence the propagation of filaments in realistic focusing and pressure conditions. Demonstrated in the case of third-harmonic generation for different gases, this result sheds light on the effect of secondary radiations emitted during the filamentation process.