Microwave Energy Channeling in Plasma Waveguides Createdby a High-Power UV Laser in the Atmosphere

摘要

The grazing mode of microwave propagation in a hollow plasma waveguide formedby ionization of atmospheric air with a small easily ionized additive by strong UV pulses of theGarpun KrF laser (A = 248 nm, the pulse duration and energy are —70 ns and -,50 J) wasexperimentally demonstrated for the first time. The annular laser beam produced a hollow tube,--10 cm in diameter with an electron density of012 _cm 3 in a plasma wall —1 cm thick, over which microwave radiation with A, — 8 mm was transmitted to a distance of 60 m. The microwavesignal transmitted by the waveguide was amplified by a factor of 6 in comparison with propagationin free space.