1 Beam Propagation through Plasma Laden Flow

Experiments were conducted to investigate the optical properties of a laser beam passing through a plasma. A capacitive discharge plasma operating at 300 volts was generated using dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuator. The actuator was mounted on an optical window in a flat plate that was installed in a specially designed wind tunnel. It was found that plasma laden flow causes laser beam distortions, dislocations and changes in beam intensity. Additional results and observations are discussed. Nomenclature Io = initial intensity of laser I = intensity of laser after passing through plasma s = reflective index and Strehl ratio I