Threshold conditions of quasicontinuous terahertz optical discharge in gases

Threshold conditions of quasicontinuous terahertz optical discharge in five atmospheric gases were measured exactly by the Novosibirsk terahertz free-electron laser (THz NovoFEL) at wavelength of 130 um (2.3 THz). Comparison of our breakdown data with the data in other experiments and calculations based on a classical theory of microwave electron heating was made. Accuracy of our experiment (± 20%) was much better than one of previous experiments in terahertz range.