激光引雷是一种新概念的防范雷击的技术,其基本原理是利用高强度的激光电离空气而产生一条放电通道,以引导闪电沿安全的路径释放。为促进该技术的应用研究,中国科学家在激光引雷这一领域也开展了多年的研究工作,在激光等离子体通道的产生及其控制,通道寿命的延长以及激光引导放电等基本物理问题上取得了一系列重要的进展。本文介绍了激光引雷技术的基本原理,发展历史和研究现状以及目前面临的科学和技术问题,主要包括如何产生长距离、长寿命的等离子体通道及激光诱导高压放电的基本物理过程。
The lightning control by using high intensity laser beam is one of most perspective lightning protection technologies . The main principle is to trigger the lightning and to guide the stroke to safe places by plasma channels, which is produced by intense laser beam in air. However, some fundamental problems, such as generation of plasma channel with long distance and long lifetime, the mechanism of laser triggered discharge require to be investigated further. The basic theory, the developing history, the present research status and the difficulties in this technique are introduced in this paper. Some important progresses in generation and control of plasma channel, prolonging the lifetime of plasma channel and laser guided high voltage discharge are achieved.