BOUNDARY INSTABILITIES OF AN EROSION LASE R-PLASMA EXPANDING INTO ENVIRONMENTAL GAS

An experimental study is made of the stability of the boundary interfa ce between an erosion plasma and a gas under the conditions when the l aser pulse duration exceeds the characteristic time of instability for mation and the expansion of the erosion plume is accompanied with a br eakdown of the background gas. Evolution of plasma boundary perturbati ons following the introduction of initial perturbations with a fixed s patial periodicity has been investigated. The feasibility of modeling an injection of plasma bunches into a low-pressure gas is shown. The d ynamics of vapor formation can be studied for moderate intensities of laser radiation typical for in technological processes.