ABSTRACT
The expansion dynamics of air plasma induced by 1,064 nm nanosecond laser pulse was studied by plasma fluorescence method. The time evolution images of air plasma expansion were acquired using the ICCD camera at different laser pulse energy, and the expansion velocity of air plasma was deduced based on the air plasma frontier expansion wave front distance at 150 mJ. The experimental results show that the plasma fluorescence was mainly distributed in the plasma expansion region, the plasma fluorescence intensity firstly increased then became weaker and the expansion area increased gradually with time evolution. The biggest expansion distance was 3. 76 mm with 300 mi at 20 ns. The plasma expansion speed was the order of magnitude of 10s m · s(-1) at the early stage of expansion process. The expansion speed of air plasma decayed rapidly within 16ns, then changed slowly with time. The time of air breakdown was close to the rising phase of laser pulse when the greater laser pulse energy was radiated.
