Author
Polynkin, PavelAffiliation
Univ Arizona, Coll Opt SciIssue Date
2017-10-16
Metadata
Show full item recordPublisher
AMER INST PHYSICSCitation
Multi-pulse scheme for laser-guided electrical breakdown of air 2017, 111 (16):161102 Applied Physics LettersJournal
Applied Physics LettersRights
© 2017 Author(s). Published by AIP Publishing.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Channeling an extended electrical breakdown of air by a laser beam is a long-standing challenge in applied laser science. Virtually all previously reported experiments on discharge channeling by femtosecond laser beams relied on the application of a single laser pulse and have been conducted with discharge gaps of less than one meter, in which case the direct ohmic heating of the laser-generated plasma by the applied DC electric field is the dominant channeling mechanism. We report a laboratory-scale demonstration of a channeling approach that makes use of concatenated plasma filaments produced by a sequence of multiple ultrashort laser pulses. Direct ohmic heating of the guiding channel is eliminated through the introduction of large temporal delays between the individual laser pulses in the pulse sequence. We propose an extension of this scheme to channeling kilometer-scale discharges, including natural lightning. Our proposed approach alleviates the fundamental range limitations inherent to the single-pulse schemes reported previously. It can channel discharges propagating in either direction and along curved paths. Published by AIP Publishing.Note
12 month embargo; published online: 16 October 2017ISSN
0003-69511077-3118
Version
Final published versionSponsors
U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research under MURI Award [FA9550-16-1-0013]Additional Links
http://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.4985265ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1063/1.4985265