Dynamics of laser-guided alternating current high voltage discharges

Daigle, J.-F.; Théberge, F.; Lassonde, Philippe; Kieffer, J. C.; Fujii, Takashi; Fortin, Jean; Châteauneuf, Marc; Dubois, Jacques

doi:10.1063/1.4827420

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Indeed, partial corona discharges were already observed in the case of laser-guided discharges, as seen in [26]. More recently, streak images showing the development of a laser-guided discharge using a Tesla coil exhibited transient ionized channels appearing and disappearing with the generator oscillating voltage prior to the main discharge [23]. The feeding of charges in such transitory channels could also explain the charge loss observed in our experiments.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

“…As for the discharge development taking place between t laser and t bd , it has been shown to be dictated by the Tesla voltage oscillations [23]. In this paper, streak images displayed the progression of an ionized leader in the gap, which disappeared each time the Tesla voltage turned to 0, and reappearing when it reached its local extremum.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…Recently, demonstration of discharge triggering and guiding by femtosecond laser filaments using a Tesla coil generator has been reported by two groups revealing a large reduction of the AC breakdown field with the filaments [21][22][23]. In this manuscript we study in detail the influence of the different experimental parameters on the guiding efficiency and on the spark parameters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

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Large scale Tesla coil guided discharges initiated by femtosecond laser filamentation in air

Arantchouk

Point

Brelet

et al. 2014

Journal of Applied Physics

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International audienceThe guiding of meter scale electric discharges produced in air by a Tesla coil is realized in laboratory using a focused terawatt laser pulse undergoing filamentation. The influence of the focus position, the laser arrival time or the gap length is studied to determine the best conditions for efficient laser guiding. Discharge parameters such as delay, jitter and resistance are characterized. An increase of the discharge length by a factor 5 has been achieved with the laser filaments, corresponding to a mean breakdown field of 2 kV/cm for a 1.8 m gap length. Consecutive guided discharges at a repetition rate of 10 Hz are also reported

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Large scale Tesla coil guided discharges initiated by femtosecond laser filamentation in air

Arantchouk

Point

Brelet

et al. 2014

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…In the last decade femtosecond laser filaments has proved to be a powerful tool to trigger and guide electric discharges in atmospheric air 1 with gap length of a few meters [2][3][4][5][6] . The weakly ionized plasma column and subsequent low density channel generated by laser filaments allow the precise triggering and guiding of electric discharges between two electrodes with a significant reduction of the breakdown voltage [7][8][9] .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prolongation of the lifetime of guided discharges triggered in atmospheric air by femtosecond laser filaments up to 130 μs

Arantchouk

Honnorat

Thouin

et al. 2016

Applied Physics Letters

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Abstract:The triggering and guiding of electric discharges produced in atmospheric air by a compact 100 kV Marx generator is realized in laboratory using an intense femtosecond laser pulse undergoing filamentation. We describe here an approach allowing extending the lifetime of the discharges by injecting a current with an additional circuit. Laser guiding discharges with a length of 8.5 cm and duration of 130 µs were obtained.In the last decade femtosecond laser filaments has proved to be a powerful tool to trigger and guide electric discharges in atmospheric air 1 with gap length of a few meters [2][3][4][5][6] . The weakly ionized plasma column and subsequent low density channel generated by laser filaments allow the precise triggering and guiding of electric discharges between two electrodes with a significant reduction of the breakdown voltage [7][8][9] . This effect is potentially useful for the development of laser lightning rod 4, 10-11 , high-voltage, high-current switches 12 , or virtual plasma antennas [13][14] .For applications such as plasma antennas, extension of the filament plasma lifetime is needed, since the plasma from the filament recombines in a few nanoseconds, seriously limiting the bandwidth of antennas to frequencies v> 10 9 Hz. This can be done using additional femtosecond or nanosecond laser pulses 15-17 but this technique is particularly complex and the resulting plasma is limited to a few µs. Injection of electric current through guided discharges appears to be a more promising way. The duration of the guided discharge mostly depends on the high voltage (HV) source, with a typical duration on the order of 100 ns [2][3][4]14 . In several publications, a Marx generator was used as the HV source to produce meter scale guided discharges. In this case, the discharge duration is defined by the product of the Marx "stack" capacitance C marx and a discharge load R load . In Ref. 18, a compact Marx generator was used to create a ~ 21 cm guided discharge of duration about 600 ns due to the mentioned Marx capacitance C max ~ 2 nF and the discharge load resistance R d ~ 300 Ω. In this letter we describe a method, which allows prolonging this parameter up to 130 µs. The experiment setup is presented in Fig. 1. The circuit is composed of two parts. The first part is a Marx generator described in 18. For this experiment the generator was composed of 5 stages charged up to 20 kV DC, resulting in 100 kV output pulse with a negative polarity. An inductance L 1 was connected to the generator output electrode and served as a load up to the moment when the Marx pulse produces a breakdown in the inter-electrode gap. The Marx output electrode has a cylinder form with an axial hole allowing the laser beam to enter in the generator and to trigger it. The second electrode is a round finger with a 5 mm radius. As described in Ref. 18, a chirped pulse amplified laser system emitting at a wavelength of 800 nm is used to produce the filaments between the two electrodes and inside the Marx generator. The laser pul...

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“…Recently, there has been a renewed interest in the ability of Tesla transformers to produce long electrical discharges in air because these discharges can be guided by laser filaments. [2][3][4][5][6] To date, laser-guided discharges from Tesla transformers have achieved a greater enhancement in length than those from other, primarily direct-current supplies, 7 and additionally can be produced using only a single electrical terminal. 3 This makes Tesla transformers and similar supplies attractive for research towards the control of electrical discharges, 8 their interaction with laser filaments, 9 the generation of plasma antennas, 10 and the laser guiding of lightning.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Note: Investigation of a Marx generator imitating a Tesla transformer

McGuyer

2018

Review of Scientific Instruments

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A compact Marx generator was built to mimic a spark-gap Tesla transformer. The generator produced radio-frequency pulses of up to ±200 kV and ±15 A with a frequency between 110 and 280 kHz at a repetition rate of 120 Hz. The generator tolerated larger circuit-parameter perturbations than is expected for conventional Tesla transformers. Possible applications include research on the control and laser guiding of spark discharges.

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Dynamics of laser-guided alternating current high voltage discharges

Cited by 13 publications

References 19 publications

Large scale Tesla coil guided discharges initiated by femtosecond laser filamentation in air

Large scale Tesla coil guided discharges initiated by femtosecond laser filamentation in air

Prolongation of the lifetime of guided discharges triggered in atmospheric air by femtosecond laser filaments up to 130 μs

Note: Investigation of a Marx generator imitating a Tesla transformer

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