INVESTIGATION OF THE MECHANISMS ASSOCIATED WITH GAS BREAKDOWN UNDER INTENSE OPTICAL ILLUMINATION

The Research Laboratories of the United Aircraft Corporation under the subject contract are conducting theoretical and experimental studies of the interaction of high intensity optical frequency radiation with gas atoms. By focusing the radiation from a Q-spoiled neodymium or ruby laser, it was found that for sufficiently high radiation intensity electrical breakdown can be produced in a gas. This phenomena has been investigated in a number of gases, and studies have been made to determine the dependence of the gas breakdown threshold on the frequency of laser radiation, gas pressure, gas species for both pure gases and mixtures, and the volume within which breakdown is formed.