Large scale Tesla coil guided discharges initiated by femtosecond laser filamentation in air

Abstract : The guiding of meter scale electric discharges produced in air by a Tesla coil is realized in laboratory using a focused terawatt laser pulse undergoing filamentation. The influence of the focus position, the laser arrival time or the gap length is studied to determine the best conditions for efficient laser guiding. Discharge parameters such as delay, jitter and resistance are characterized. An increase of the discharge length by a factor 5 has been achieved with the laser filaments, corresponding to a mean breakdown field of 2 kV/cm for a 1.8 m gap length. Consecutive guided discharges at a repetition rate of 10 Hz are also reported.