|
VOLUME 20 (1974) | ISSUE 4 |
PAGE 277
|
Passage of accelerated particles and quanta through a medium along a reduced-density channel produced by a laser beam
Askar'yan G.A., Tarasova N.M.
It is shown experimentally and theoretically that ionization and heating of a medium in a laser beam can produce a reduced-density channel through which accelerated particles (charges, quanta, macrons) and beams can pass without strong scattering and without strong energy dissipation. Estimates are obtained of the running energy release needed for the formation of such a channel, for its formation time, and for its lifetime, which is shown to be able to exceed hundreds of microseconds. Various methods are considered for the production of the energy release; breakdown, plume, optical detonation, etc.—in the beam or across a moving focus in the case of self-focusing in a gas or in a dense medium, or in the case of focusing by a lens with variable focal length.
|
|