Abstract
Triggering rain on-demand is an old dream of mankind, with a huge potential socio-economical benefit. We demonstrate that water cloud condensation can be induced in the free, sub-saturated atmosphere by self-guided ionized filaments generated by ultrashort laser pulses. Filaments [1] result from a dynamic balance between Kerr focusing, and defocusing by both the free electrons released at the non-linear focus and the saturation of the Kerr effect [2]. Their robustness allows them to propagate efficiently through perturbed atmospheres, allowing atmospheric applications [1] like lightning control [3].
© 2011 Optical Society of America
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