Effect of laser intensity on radio frequency emissions from laser induced breakdown of atmospheric air

Abstract

The studies on the effect of input laser intensity, through the variation of laser focusing geometry, on radio frequency (RF) emissions, over 30–1000 MHz from nanosecond (ns) and picosecond (ps) laser induced breakdown (LIB) of atmospheric air are presented. The RF emissions from the ns and ps LIB were observed to be decreasing and increasing, respectively, when traversed from tight to loose focusing conditions. The angular and radial intensities of the RF emissions from the ns and ps LIB are found to be consistent with sin2θ/r2 dependence of the electric dipole radiation. The normalized RF emissions were observed to vary with incident laser intensity (Iλ2), indicating the increase in the induced dipole moment at moderate input laser intensities and the damping of radiation due to higher recombination rate of plasma at higher input laser intensities.