Generation of rapidly varying current and voltage pulses as a result of interaction of a train of laser pulses with a target in the atmosphere

A study was made of the generation of electric voltage and current pulses as a result of interaction of a train of laser pulses with a target in a gas under a variety of focusing conditions and at different gas pressures. It was found that at atmospheric pressure the voltage and current pulses appeared on repeated laser exposures, which was due to the formation of a heated layer of a low-density gas at the target surface, the expansion of which occurred in a time comparable with a period between laser pulses in a train. The rapid variation of the response in the form of the current and voltage pulses to laser radiation made it possible to reproduce the modulation of such radiation at frequencies $\gtrsim$ 30 MHz.