Radiofrequency plasma antenna generated by femtosecond laser filaments in air

Yohann Brelet (1) , Aurélien Houard (2) , Guillaume Point (1) , Bernard Prade (1) , Léonid Arantchouk (3) , Jérôme Carbonnel (1) , Yves-Bernard André (1) , Michel Pellet (4) , André Mysyrowicz (1)

1 ILM - Interaction Laser-Matière
2 LOA - Laboratoire d'optique appliquée
3 LPP - Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas
4 Ministère de la défense

We demonstrate tunable radiofrequency emission from a meter-long linear plasma column produced in air at atmospheric pressure. A short-lived plasma column is initially produced by femtosecond filamentation and subsequently converted into a long-lived discharge column by application of an external high voltage field. Radiofrequency excitation is fed to the plasma by induction and detected remotely as electromagnetic radiation by a classical antenna.

Keywords: high-frequency discharges; antennas in plasma; air; plasma production; plasma light propagation

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]

Yohann Brelet, Aurélien Houard, Guillaume Point, Bernard Prade, Léonid Arantchouk, et al.. Radiofrequency plasma antenna generated by femtosecond laser filaments in air. Applied Physics Letters, 2012, 101 (26), pp.264106. ⟨10.1063/1.4773492⟩. ⟨hal-00852044⟩