Creation of Laser-Induced Long Ionized Channels in Air Suspension

The paper deals with the propagation of the powerful laser beam in gas-dispersion systems and atmospheric aerosol background, which is accompanied by a wide spectrum of thermal, acoustic-and-hydrodynamic and ionization processes arising both in the vicinity of particles and at the beam level. The analysis is performed for the main interaction mechanisms of the high-energy laser beam and gas-dispersion systems, including those containing metals. A state-transition diagram is constructed to evaluate physical processes observed in the laser channel propagation.