The control of lightning using lasers: properties of streamers and leaders in the presence of laser-produced ionization

This paper summarizes the research this team has performed over the past few years investigating laboratory electrical breakdown discharges in the presence of a plasma cylinder created by a single ultrashort laser pulse. This work is part of a feasibility study about the control of lightning using laser systems. Our experimental investigations have included discharges (i) in modest (30 cm) air gaps mediated by streamers, and (ii) in large (several meters) ambient air gaps for which the discharge took place through the formation of a leader, the mechanism relevant to large scale natural discharges such as lightning. In order to understand the observations, various physical models have been used, the main results of which are discussed in this paper. To cite this article: F. Vidal et al., C. R. Physique 3 (2002) 1361–1374.