Experimental investigation of the interaction of CO2 laser pulses with droplet and crystalline cloud media

An investigation was made of the effects of the initial microstructure on the size and concentrations of particles formed from droplets and crystals exploding under the action of CO₂ laser radiation pulses of intensity 0.1–10 MW/cm². The characteristic time for the transformation of a cloud medium was estimated to be 5–6 μsec under the experimental conditions.