Long electrical spark discharges have been directed through air along predetermined paths defined by a concentrated laser beam. At apparent optical power densities of 50–100 giga W/cm2, 35‐nsec half‐width laser pulses at 10 600 Å have been effective in channeling streamer discharges from a 350‐kV positively charged electrode for distances up to 28 cm in a total streamer length of 71 cm. The average E field required to obtain a discharge between electrodes was reduced from 7.3 to 5.5 kV/cm with the laser powers employed.

1.
J. R.
Vaill
,
T. D.
Wilkerson
,
D. A.
Tidman
, and
D. W.
Koopman
,
Appl. Phys. Lett.
17
,
20
(
1970
).
2.
M. W. Uman, Lightning (McGraw‐Hill, New York, 1969).
3.
P.
Agostini
,
J.
Bonnal
,
G.
Mainfray
,
C.
Manus
, and
J.
Morellec
,
Compt. Rend.
266B
,
790
(
1968
).
4.
V.
Chalmeton
and
R.
Papoular
,
Phys. Lett.
26A
,
579
(
1968
).
5.
S. A.
Akhmanov
,
A. I.
Korrigin
,
M. M.
Strukov
, and
R. V.
Khokhlov
,
JETP Lett.
1
,
25
(
1965
).
6.
C. S.
Naiman
,
M. Y.
DeWolf
,
I.
Goldblatt
, and
J.
Schwartz
,
Phys. Rev.
146
,
133
(
1960
).
7.
W. K.
Pendleton
and
A. H.
Guenther
,
Rev. Sci. Instrum.
36
,
1546
(
1965
).
8.
V. I.
Vladimirov
,
G. M.
Malyshev
,
G. T.
Razdobarin
, and
V. V.
Semenov
,
Sov. Phys. Tech. Phys.
14
,
677
(
1969
).
9.
R. C.
Klewe
,
M. B. C.
Quigley
, and
B. A.
Tozer
,
Appl. Phys. Lett.
15
,
155
(
1969
).
10.
A. G.
Akmanov
,
L. W.
Rivlin
, and
V. S.
Shildyaev
,
JETP Lett.
8
,
258
(
1968
).
11.
Generator supplied by Lightning and Transients Research Institute, Miami, Fla.
12.
W. F.
Hagen
,
J. Appl. Phys.
40
,
511
(
1969
).
This content is only available via PDF.
You do not currently have access to this content.