NO x generation in laser-produced plasma in air as a function of dissipated energy

Abstract

An experimental study on the production of NO x as a function of dissipated energy in laser-produced plasma in air is presented. A plasma was produced by focusing a (60– 180) mJ , 5 ns , 532 nm pulse from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. The results show that for laser energy in the range of 13– 99 mJ the laser plasma generates 6.7×10 16 NO x molecules per joule and 4.6×10 16 NO molecules per joule. An order of magnitude estimate of the NO and NO x production per unit volume of heated gas based on a simple model show that the NO x and NO production efficiency in air are about 3×10 22 and 2×10 22 molecules J −1 m −3.