Experimental measurements of the pressure and magnetic field dependence of the threshold energy of CO2−laser−induced gas breakdown have been made in hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, and argon gases. These measurements clearly exhibit the effects of diffusion, laser pulse length, and elastic and inelastic energy losses. A simplified phenomenological theory of laser−induced gas breakdown which takes these effects into account is outlined. The predictions of this theory are compared with experimental results. The theory correctly predicts all of the qualitative trends in the data, and in the case of helium a quantitative fit is obtained.
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Cohn et al. (1975) studied this question.