Formation of a conducting channel in air by self-guided femtosecond laser pulses Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • We report a drastic reduction of air resistivity following the passage of a self-guided femtosecond pulse from a Ti:sapphire laser system at 800 nm with energies per pulse between 1 and 14 mJ and a pulse duration of 120 fs. Connected plasma filaments with a length that can exceed 150 cm are created by these pulses. The presence of a conducting plasma channel results from multiphoton ionization of air molecules in the filament core. 1999 The American Physical Society.

published proceedings

  • Physical Review E - Statistical Physics, Plasmas, Fluids, and Related Interdisciplinary Topics

author list (cited authors)

  • Tzortzakis, S., Franco, M. A., Andr, Y. B., Chiron, A., Lamouroux, B., Prade, B. S., & Mysyrowicz, A.

citation count

  • 130

complete list of authors

  • Tzortzakis, S||Franco, MA||AndrĂ©, YB||Chiron, A||Lamouroux, B||Prade, BS||Mysyrowicz, A

publication date

  • January 1999