Investigation of electrical breakdown of electronegative gases by laser irradiation

Abstract

A further investigation of laser-induced electrical breakdown of molecular gases is presented. By means of a modified version of the Evans and Gamal electron cascade model (1980), the breakdown parameters of molecular oxygen at pressures between 7.6*102 and 3*104 Torr irradiated with 10 ns pulse of Nd:YAG laser radiation ( lambda =1.064 mu m) are calculated. The results provide satisfactory evidence for the important role played by the attachment losses term on the breakdown phenomenon associated with the interaction of molecular oxygen with laser radiation. A study of the effect of this loss process on the electron energy distribution function and its parameters is also presented.