Large laser sparks for laboratory simulation of high-energy-density events in planetary atmospheres

Dagmar Babankova; Libor Juha; Svatopluk Civias; Michal Bittner; Jaroslav Cihelka; Andrzej Bartnik; Henryk Fiedorowicz; Janusz Mikolajczyk; Leszek Ryc; Miroslav Pfeifer; Jiri Skala; Jiri Ullschmied

doi:10.1117/12.618407

22 September 2005 Large laser sparks for laboratory simulation of high-energy-density events in planetary atmospheres

Dagmar Babankova, Libor Juha, Svatopluk Civias, Michal Bittner, Jaroslav Cihelka, Andrzej Bartnik, Henryk Fiedorowicz, Janusz Mikolajczyk, Leszek Ryc, Miroslav Pfeifer, Jiri Skala, Jiri Ullschmied

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5906, Astrobiology and Planetary Missions; 590614 (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.618407
Event: Optics and Photonics 2005, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Single ≤1 kJ pulses from a high-power laser are focused into molecular gases to create large laser sparks. This provides a unique way to mimic the chemical effects of high-energy-density events in planetary atmospheres (cometary impact, lightning) matching the natural energy-density, its spatio-temporal evolution and plasma-volume scaling of such events in a fully-controlled laboratory environment. Some chemical reactions initiated by laser-induced dielectric breakdown (LIDB) in both pure molecular gases and mixtures related to the chemical evolution of the Earth's early atmosphere were studied. Most of the experiments were carried out in a static gas cell. However, an initial series of experiments was also performed with a gas-puff target placed within a vacuum interaction chamber. Under these dynamic conditions the hot core of a laser spark can be directly investigated.

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Dagmar Babankova, Libor Juha, Svatopluk Civias, Michal Bittner, Jaroslav Cihelka, Andrzej Bartnik, Henryk Fiedorowicz, Janusz Mikolajczyk, Leszek Ryc, Miroslav Pfeifer, Jiri Skala, and Jiri Ullschmied "Large laser sparks for laboratory simulation of high-energy-density events in planetary atmospheres", Proc. SPIE 5906, Astrobiology and Planetary Missions, 590614 (22 September 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.618407

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KEYWORDS

Plasma

Carbon monoxide

Gases

Atmospheric plasma

Earth's atmosphere

High power lasers

Molecular lasers

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