Supression of laser breakdown by pulsed nonequilibrium ns discharge

The avalanche ionization induced by infrared laser pulses was investigated in a pre-ionized argon gas. Pre-ionization was created by a high-voltage pulsed nanosecond discharge developed in the form of a fast ionization wave. Then, behind the front of ionization wave additional avalanche ionization w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plasma sources science & technology 2016-09, Vol.25 (5), p.54008
Main Authors: Starikovskiy, A Y, Semenov, I E, Shneider, M N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
electron avalanche
laser spark
nanosecond discharge
nonequilibrium plasma
Physics
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Summary:The avalanche ionization induced by infrared laser pulses was investigated in a pre-ionized argon gas. Pre-ionization was created by a high-voltage pulsed nanosecond discharge developed in the form of a fast ionization wave. Then, behind the front of ionization wave additional avalanche ionization was initiated by the focused Nd-YAG laser pulse. It was shown that the gas pre-ionization inhibits the laser spark generation. It was demonstrated that the suppression of laser spark development in the case of strong gas pre-ionization is because of fast electron energy transfer from the laser beam focal region. The main mechanism of this energy transfer is free electrons diffusion.
ISSN:0963-0252
1361-6595
1361-6595
DOI:10.1088/0963-0252/25/5/054008