A simple high-voltage high current spark gap with subnanosecond jitter triggered by femtosecond laser filamentation

Arantchouk, Léonid; Houard, Aurélien; Brelet, Yohann; Carbonnel, Jérôme; Larour, Jean; André, Yves-Bernard; Mysyrowicz, A.

doi:10.1063/1.4802927

Cited by 23 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…5, in some cases the guided discharge presents discontinuities that we attribute to "jumps" of the initial current from one filament to the other. Similar discontinuities were observed in the guided discharges produced in our spark gap, Marx and Tesla experiments 9,12,14,18 . The average FWHM measured on the homogeneous parts of the images changes very weakly during 130 µs with a value of 2.1 ± 0.2 mm.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 58%

“…The weakly ionized plasma column and subsequent low density channel generated by laser filaments allow the precise triggering and guiding of electric discharges between two electrodes with a significant reduction of the breakdown voltage [7][8][9] . This effect is potentially useful for the development of laser lightning rod 4,[10][11] , high-voltage, high-current switches 12 , or virtual plasma antennas [13][14] .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Prolongation of the lifetime of guided discharges triggered in atmospheric air by femtosecond laser filaments up to 130 μs

Arantchouk

Honnorat

Thouin

et al. 2016

Applied Physics Letters

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Abstract:The triggering and guiding of electric discharges produced in atmospheric air by a compact 100 kV Marx generator is realized in laboratory using an intense femtosecond laser pulse undergoing filamentation. We describe here an approach allowing extending the lifetime of the discharges by injecting a current with an additional circuit. Laser guiding discharges with a length of 8.5 cm and duration of 130 µs were obtained.In the last decade femtosecond laser filaments has proved to be a powerful tool to trigger and guide electric discharges in atmospheric air 1 with gap length of a few meters [2][3][4][5][6] . The weakly ionized plasma column and subsequent low density channel generated by laser filaments allow the precise triggering and guiding of electric discharges between two electrodes with a significant reduction of the breakdown voltage [7][8][9] . This effect is potentially useful for the development of laser lightning rod 4, 10-11 , high-voltage, high-current switches 12 , or virtual plasma antennas [13][14] .For applications such as plasma antennas, extension of the filament plasma lifetime is needed, since the plasma from the filament recombines in a few nanoseconds, seriously limiting the bandwidth of antennas to frequencies v> 10 9 Hz. This can be done using additional femtosecond or nanosecond laser pulses 15-17 but this technique is particularly complex and the resulting plasma is limited to a few µs. Injection of electric current through guided discharges appears to be a more promising way. The duration of the guided discharge mostly depends on the high voltage (HV) source, with a typical duration on the order of 100 ns [2][3][4]14 . In several publications, a Marx generator was used as the HV source to produce meter scale guided discharges. In this case, the discharge duration is defined by the product of the Marx "stack" capacitance C marx and a discharge load R load . In Ref. 18, a compact Marx generator was used to create a ~ 21 cm guided discharge of duration about 600 ns due to the mentioned Marx capacitance C max ~ 2 nF and the discharge load resistance R d ~ 300 Ω. In this letter we describe a method, which allows prolonging this parameter up to 130 µs. The experiment setup is presented in Fig. 1. The circuit is composed of two parts. The first part is a Marx generator described in 18. For this experiment the generator was composed of 5 stages charged up to 20 kV DC, resulting in 100 kV output pulse with a negative polarity. An inductance L 1 was connected to the generator output electrode and served as a load up to the moment when the Marx pulse produces a breakdown in the inter-electrode gap. The Marx output electrode has a cylinder form with an axial hole allowing the laser beam to enter in the generator and to trigger it. The second electrode is a round finger with a 5 mm radius. As described in Ref. 18, a chirped pulse amplified laser system emitting at a wavelength of 800 nm is used to produce the filaments between the two electrodes and inside the Marx generator. The laser pul...

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 58%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prolongation of the lifetime of guided discharges triggered in atmospheric air by femtosecond laser filaments up to 130 μs

Arantchouk

Honnorat

Thouin

et al. 2016

Applied Physics Letters

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“…A storage capacitor of nominal value C d = 2 nF charged up to a voltage U 0 = 15 kV DC discharges through a laser triggered spark gap to a ballast resistance of nominal value R b = 380 Ω and a current viewing resistor, or shunt, of 50 mΩ. The gap switch consists in two cylindrical coppertungsten alloy electrodes of face diameter 36 mm placed into a Plexiglas construction opened to atmospheric air 17 . The laser beam passes through Ø3 mm holes drilled into the electrodes.…”

Section: The Algorithmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-color interferometer for the study of laser filamentation triggered electric discharges in air

Point

Brelet

Arantchouk

et al. 2014

Review of Scientific Instruments

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We present a space and time resolved interferometric plasma diagnostic for use on plasmas where neutral-bound electron contribution to the refractive index cannot be neglected. By recording simultaneously the plasma optical index at 532 and 1064 nm, we are able to extract independently the neutral and free electron density profiles. We report a phase resolution of 30 mrad , corresponding to a maximum resolution on the order of 4×10(22) m(-3) for the electron density, and of 10(24) m(-3) for the neutral density. The interferometer is demonstrated on centimeter-scale sparks triggered by laser filamentation in air with typical currents of a few tens of A.

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“…For example, this may provide easily deployable and reconfigurable radio-frequency (RF) antennas 18,19 as well as potentially act as a lightning rod 3,20,21 . They can also be used for contactless electrical power transmission [22][23][24] . All these applications require a precise control of plasma parameters, especially electron density.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasma dynamics of a laser filamentation-guided spark

et al. 2016

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We investigate experimentally the plasma dynamics of a centimeter-scale, laser filamentation-guided spark discharge. Using electrical and optical diagnostics to study monopolar discharges with varying current pulses we show that plasma decay is dominated by free electron recombination if the current decay time is shorter than the recombination characteristic time. In the opposite case, the plasma electron density closely follows the current evolution. We demonstrate that this criterion holds true in the case of damped AC sparks, and that alternative current is the best option to achieve a long plasma lifetime for a given peak current.

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A simple high-voltage high current spark gap with subnanosecond jitter triggered by femtosecond laser filamentation

Abstract: International audienceWe describe a simple, sturdy, and reliable spark gap operating with air at atmospheric pressure and able to switch currents in excess of 10 kA with sub-nanosecond jitter. The spark gap is remotely triggered by a femtosecond laser filament

Cited by 23 publications

References 9 publications

Prolongation of the lifetime of guided discharges triggered in atmospheric air by femtosecond laser filaments up to 130 μs

Prolongation of the lifetime of guided discharges triggered in atmospheric air by femtosecond laser filaments up to 130 μs

Two-color interferometer for the study of laser filamentation triggered electric discharges in air

Plasma dynamics of a laser filamentation-guided spark

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