Laser-induced supersaturation and snow formation in a sub-saturated cloud chamber

Calculation of the saturation ratio inside vortices formed below the filament in a sub-saturation zone in a cloud chamber was given. By mixing the air with a large temperature gradient, supersaturation was sustained inside the vortices. This led to precipitation and snow formation when strong filame...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics. B, Lasers and optics Lasers and optics, 2014-12, Vol.117 (4), p.1001-1007
Main Authors: Ju, Jingjing, Leisner, Tomas, Sun, Haiyi, Sridharan, Aravindan, Wang, Tie-Jun, Wang, Jingwei, Wang, Cheng, Liu, Jiansheng, Li, Ruxin, Xu, Zhizhan, Chin, See Leang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerodynamics
Cloud chambers
Engineering
Filaments
Fluid dynamics
Fluid flow
Lasers
Optical Devices
Optics
Photonics
Physical Chemistry
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Precipitation
Quantum Optics
Vortices
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Summary:Calculation of the saturation ratio inside vortices formed below the filament in a sub-saturation zone in a cloud chamber was given. By mixing the air with a large temperature gradient, supersaturation was sustained inside the vortices. This led to precipitation and snow formation when strong filaments were created using short focal length lenses ( f  = 20 and 30 cm). However, when longer filaments were formed with the same laser pulse energy but longer focal length lenses ( f  = 50 and 80 cm), only condensation (mist) was observed. The lack of precipitation was attributed to the weaker air flow, which was not strong enough to form strong vortices below the filament to sustain precipitation.
ISSN:0946-2171
1432-0649
DOI:10.1007/s00340-014-5920-0