Laser Guiding of Three Phase Tesla Coil High Voltage Discharges

Guiding and triggering of discharges from a three phase Tesla coil type 280 kHz AC high voltage source using filaments created by a femtosecond Terawatt laser pulse. Without the laser the discharges were maximum 30 cm long. With the laser straight, guided discharges up to 110 cm length were detected. The discharge length was limited by the voltage amplitude of the Tesla coil. A significant reduction of the breakdown voltage threshold due to the pre-ionization of the air gap by laser pulse filamentation was observed. The lifetime of filaments is measured by using time-resolved fluorescence spectrum, and the lifetime of filaments generated by dual fs laser pulses was doubled due to the re-ionization by the succeeding pulse