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Long plasma channels generated by femtosecond laser pulses
1Laboratory of Optical Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China.
Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
|January 22, 2002
Abstract:
Generation of a long plasma channel by femtosecond laser pulses is investigated. The results show that the balance between the nonlinear self-focusing of the laser beam and plasma defocusing forms a long plasma channel, which guides the laser beam to propagate a long distance in air. This phenomenon can be used to trigger lightning.