The mechanism of optical breakdown during the irradiation of water targets by a pulsed CO2 laser
Abstract
A CO2 laser with a pulse energy of up to 10 J was used to produce optical breakdown in a large water drop and in a planar water target. It is shown that primary breakdown in air during the interaction of water targets and pulsed CO2 laser radiation is determined by thermal ionization of the air in a shock wave. Experiments with planar targets clearly show that the centers of breakdown-wave generation are irregularities of the surface of the irradiated material, which can lead to the appearance of local inhomogeneities on the shock front, where the temperature and pressure significantly exceed mean values.
- Publication:
-
Zhurnal Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki
- Pub Date:
- July 1981
- Bibcode:
- 1981ZhTFi..51.1439Z
- Keywords:
-
- Carbon Dioxide Lasers;
- Gas Ionization;
- Infrared Lasers;
- Laser Target Interactions;
- Plasma Jets;
- Pulsed Lasers;
- Water;
- Aerosols;
- Cumulative Damage;
- Evaporation;
- Implosions;
- Laser Outputs;
- Radiant Flux Density;
- Shock Waves;
- Synchronism;
- Lasers and Masers