SOME EXPLORATORY EXPERIMENTS ON LASER EXPLOSIONS IN PSEUDO-AIR,
Abstract
A Q-switched ruby laser, which cannot explode air directly, has been used to explode various pseudo-air targets. These targets have been, generally, air with increased electron densities, such as a drop of liquid nitrogen or an air-plasma caused by a spark gap. Water drops, to which were added various salts, were also targets in evaluating the feasibility of salting targets. The results consisting of open-shutter photographs, time-integrated spectra, and some photodiode records with micro-second resolution suggest that: (1) twelve spectral lines are found common to nearly all the targets; identification suggests that these lines originate in the air surrounding the targets; (2) the structure of the spectrum resulting from laser interaction with a drop of liquid nitrogen has marked similarity to the structure of lightning spectra; further, most of the twelve lines common to nearly all spectra appear in lightning spectra; (3) the luminous phenomena occur over times like micro seconds from the laser pulses of duration like tens of nanoseconds; (4) further experiments with nanosecond -to-shake time resolution are needed to clarify the 'explosion' details. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0632484
Entities
People
- L. Rudlin
- T. W. Hill
Organizations
- Naval Ordnance Laboratory