Observation of supersonic radiation waves in gases generated by CO2 laser radiation

Supersonic radiation (superdetonation) waves of absorption of λ =10.6 μ radiation in gases were observed for the first time. The threshold of formation of these supersonic radiation waves in Ar and Xe was (3–4)×10⁷ W/cm². When the density of the laser radiation power was ~10⁸ W/cm², the velocity of the absorption waves exceeded the velocities of optical detonation waves by a factor of ~10 and ~7 for Ar and Xe, respectively. The experiments were carried out under conditions approximating closely to the planar one-dimensional case.