The nonlinear propagation of ultrashort laser pulses in the form of solitons, filaments and light bullets is an exciting research field [1]. Beyond the basic studies on the complex physical phenomena involved, the field is driven significantly by its numerous applications, like for example in materials engineering, remote spectroscopy, lightning control.
Here we discuss our recent results on the tailored propagation of linear and nonlinear waves, including appropriately sculptured wave packets, like Airy beams. We study the propagation in both isotropic and anisotropic media and show that an appropriate periodic modulation of the index of refraction of the medium offers a very robust way of controlling the propagation properties of high intensity laser beams [2]. We also explore tailor-made media presenting anisotropy and scattering properties, which lead to the observation of optical rogue waves [3].
Finally, we will present results on the use of appropriately sculptured beams to deliver very high laser and THz intensities at remote locations [4-5] and achieve tailored material micro/nano-structuring [6].