title: Laser-assisted guiding of electric discharges around objects.
abstract: Electric breakdown in air occurs for electric fields exceeding 34 kV/cm and results in a large current surge that propagates along unpredictable trajectories. Guiding such currents across specific paths in a controllable manner could allow protection against lightning strikes and high-voltage capacitor discharges. Such capabilities can be used for delivering charge to specific targets, for electronic jamming, or for applications associated with electric welding and machining. We show that judiciously shaped laser radiation can be effectively used to manipulate the discharge along a complex path and to produce electric discharges that unfold along a predefined trajectory. Remarkably, such laser-induced arcing can even circumvent an object that completely occludes the line of sight.
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, 1650 Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec J3X 1S2, Canada. ; School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clerici
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, 1650 Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec J3X 1S2, Canada. ; The MOE Key Laboratory of Weak Light Nonlinear Photonics, School of Physics and TEDA Applied Physics School, Nankai University, Tianjin 300457, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, 1650 Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec J3X 1S2, Canada.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lassonde
authors.affiliation: Centre de Physique Théorique CNRS, École Polytechnique, F-91128 Palaiseau, France.
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Milián
authors.affiliation: Centre de Physique Théorique CNRS, École Polytechnique, F-91128 Palaiseau, France.
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Couairon
authors.affiliation: College of Optics, Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USA.
authors.forename: Demetrios N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Christodoulides
authors.affiliation: The MOE Key Laboratory of Weak Light Nonlinear Photonics, School of Physics and TEDA Applied Physics School, Nankai University, Tianjin 300457, China. ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA.
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, 1650 Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec J3X 1S2, Canada.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Razzari
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, 1650 Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec J3X 1S2, Canada.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, 1650 Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec J3X 1S2, Canada.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Légaré
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Faccio
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, 1650 Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec J3X 1S2, Canada. ; Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Morandotti
keywords: Beam shaping; Electric discharges; Laser ionization; Plasma