Remote steering of laser beams by radar- and laser-induced refractive-index gradients in the atmosphere Academic Article

abstract

• Refractive-index gradients induced in the atmospheric air by properly tailored laser and microwave fields are shown to enable a remote steering of laser beams. Heatingassisted modulation of the refractive index of the air by microwave radiation is shown to support small-angle laser-beam bending with bending angles on the order of 10-2. Ionization of the atmospheric air by dyads of femto- and nanosecond laser pulses, on the other hand, can provide beam deflection angles in excess of /5, offering an attractive strategy for radiation transfer, free-space communications, and laser-based standoff detection. 2012 by Astro Ltd., published exclusively by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

authors

• Scully, Marlan
• Sokolov, Alexei

published proceedings

• LASER PHYSICS LETTERS

author list (cited authors)

• Zheltikov, A. M., Shneider, M. N., Voronin, A. A., Sokolov, A. V., & Scully, M. O.

citation count

• 5

complete list of authors

• Zheltikov, AM||Shneider, MN||Voronin, AA||Sokolov, AV||Scully, MO

publication date

• January 2012

publisher

• IOP Publishing  Publisher

published in

• Laser Physics Letters  Journal

keywords

• Beam Steering
• Filamentation
• Laser Standoff Detection

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1002/lapl.201110096

start page

• 68

end page

• 72

volume

• 9

issue

• 1

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lapl.201110096