Theoretical Study of Ionization of Air by Intense Laser Pulses

摘要

A detailed theoretical study of cascade ionization of air by radio frequency fields and by laser beams is given. Experimental rate constants for energy loss, ionization, and attachment are used. The Boltzmann equation for the electrons is solved in both classical and quantum form. Provision is made for both single-and multi-photon ionization and detachment processes. The latter processes have been incorporated parametrically in our calculations due to the lack of quantitative description of multi-photon absorption. Possible anomalies in comparison with available experiments are noted for photons in the one to two electron volt range when the illuminated volume is large. (Author)