Optical beaming of electrical discharges
| Autor: | Andrey E. Miroshnichenko, Vladlen G. Shvedov, E. Pivnev, Wieslaw Krolikowski, Arthur R. Davoyan |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Materials science
Science Physics::Optics General Physics and Astronomy 02 engineering and technology Photoionization 01 natural sciences Article General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology law.invention Optics Physics::Plasma Physics law 0103 physical sciences lcsh:Science 010306 general physics Range (particle radiation) Multidisciplinary business.industry General Chemistry Plasma 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology Laser Lightning strike Optical manipulation and tweezers lcsh:Q Plasma medicine 0210 nano-technology business Applied optics Beam (structure) Excitation |
| Zdroj: | Nature Communications Nature communications, vol 11, iss 1 Nature Communications, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2020) |
| ISSN: | 2041-1723 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-020-19183-0 |
| Popis: | Igniting and guiding electrical discharges to desired targets in the ambient atmosphere have been a subject of intense research efforts for decades. Ability to control discharge and its propagation can pave the way to a broad range of applications from nanofabrication and plasma medicine to monitoring of atmospheric pollution and, ultimately, taming lightning strikes. Numerous experiments utilizing powerful pulsed lasers with peak-intensity above air photoionization and photo-dissociation have demonstrated excitation and confinement of plasma tracks in the wakes of laser field. Here, we propose and demonstrate an efficient approach for triggering, trapping and guiding electrical discharges in air. It is based on the use of a low-power continuous-wave vortex beam that traps and transports light-absorbing particles in mid-air. We demonstrate a 30% decrease in discharge threshold mediated by optically trapped graphene microparticles with the use of a laser beam of a few hundred milliwatts of power. Our demonstration may pave the way to guiding electrical discharges along arbitrary paths. Control of electrical discharge paths would allow several technological applications, but it usually requires air photoionisation with high-peak-power pulsed lasers. Here, instead, the authors exploit the trapping and heating of light-absorbing particles to guide discharge along the desired path. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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