Generation of microwave current pulses in the erosion plasma of a metallic target by two-frequency laser radiation

When IR laser radiation that is intensity-modulated at a frequency of 1.1 GHz is incident on a conducting target in a rarified gas at a pressure of 0.1 torr, microwave modulation of the current pulses generated in the erosion plasma is observed. A microwave signal with a voltage amplitude of 2 V is obtained at a laser intensity of 100 GW/cm². The efficiency of the conversion of laser energy to the microwave band at an intensity of 10 GW/cm² is 2.5 · 10^–7.