Radiofrequency conical emission from femtosecond filaments in air

Benjamin Forestier (1) , Aurélien Houard (1) , Magali Durand (1) , Yves-Bernard André (1) , Bernard Prade (1) , Jean-Yves Dauvignac (2) , Franck Perret (2) , Christian Pichot (2) , Michel Pellet (3) , André Mysyrowicz (1)

1 LOA - Laboratoire d'optique appliquée
2 LEAT - Laboratoire d'Electronique, Antennes et Télécommunications
3 Ministère de la défense

We show that the broadband conical emission associated with filaments in air extends down to the radiofrequency region. This rf emission which originates from the longitudinal oscillation of charged ions formed during filamentation is strongly enhanced by the presence of a longitudinal static electric field.

Keywords: high-frequency discharges; high-speed optical techniques; plasma oscillations; plasma production by laser; filamentation

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]

Benjamin Forestier, Aurélien Houard, Magali Durand, Yves-Bernard André, Bernard Prade, et al.. Radiofrequency conical emission from femtosecond filaments in air. Applied Physics Letters, 2010, 96 (14), pp.141111. ⟨10.1063/1.3378266⟩. ⟨hal-00472658⟩