Electrical Discharges Guided by PulsedCo2-Laser Radiation

A chain of aerosol-initiated, C${\mathrm{O}}_2$-laser-produced, air-breakdown plasmas has been used to guide electrical discharges over distances ≲ 2 m in laboratory air in a direction almost perpendicular to the strongest electric field. The guiding effect existed at average electric fields ≳ 1 kV/cm and the discharge propagation velocity (${10}^9$ cm/sec at 360 kV) depended on the applied potential. Such laser-initiated current-carrying channels appear to be capable of efficiently transporting relativistic electron beams in pellet-fusion reactors.