Laser-triggered spark discharges using ultrashort-pulse lasers

Bruno M. La Fontaine; D. Comtois; C. Y. Chien; P. Couture; A. Desparois; Tudor Wyatt Johnston; Zhiming Jiang; Jean-Claude Kieffer; Francois Martin; R. Mawassi; H. P. Mercure; Henri Pepin; F. Poitras; C. Potvin; F. A. M. Rizk; Francois Vidal

doi:10.1117/12.375109

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11 January 2000 Laser-triggered spark discharges using ultrashort-pulse lasers

Bruno M. La Fontaine, D. Comtois, C. Y. Chien, P. Couture, A. Desparois, Tudor Wyatt Johnston, Zhiming Jiang, Jean-Claude Kieffer, Francois Martin, R. Mawassi, H. P. Mercure, Henri Pepin, F. Poitras, C. Potvin, F. A. M. Rizk, Francois Vidal

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Proceedings Volume 3886, High-Power Lasers in Energy Engineering; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.375109
Event: Advanced High-Power Lasers and Applications, 1999, Osaka, Japan

Abstract

This paper presents result form a systematic study of the feasibility of triggering lightning in a controlled fashion, using ultrashort pulse lasers. We show the importance of producing a plasma with local gradients of electron density by focusing the laser beam in order to trigger streamers, which are the first condition required for the initiation of large-scale spark discharges. We present evidence of the ability of laser filaments to guide streamer discharges, which are akin to the final jump phase of a lightning discharge. We also demonstrate that the leader propagation can be considerably modified by the presence of a laser- produced plasma channel, in a rod-plane electrode geometry. Finally, we have developed numerical models for the ultrashort pulse laser beam propagation through air, plasma production and streamer inception.

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Bruno M. La Fontaine, D. Comtois, C. Y. Chien, P. Couture, A. Desparois, Tudor Wyatt Johnston, Zhiming Jiang, Jean-Claude Kieffer, Francois Martin, R. Mawassi, H. P. Mercure, Henri Pepin, F. Poitras, C. Potvin, F. A. M. Rizk, and Francois Vidal "Laser-triggered spark discharges using ultrashort-pulse lasers", Proc. SPIE 3886, High-Power Lasers in Energy Engineering, (11 January 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.375109

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