Experimental results of a study of the electric field in a plasma channel produced during nanosecond discharge at a $H_2$ gas pressure of $(2-3)\times 10^5\mathrm{Pa}$ by the coherent anti-Stokes scattering method are reported. The discharge was ignited by applying a voltage pulse with an amplitude of $\sim 100\mathrm{kV}$ and a duration of $\sim 5\mathrm{ns}$ to a blade cathode placed at a distance of 10 and 20 mm from the anode. It was shown that this type of gas discharge is characterized by the presence of an electric field in the plasma channel with root-mean-square intensities of up to $30\mathrm{kV}/\mathrm{cm}$. Using polarization measurements, it was found that the direction of the electric field is along the cathode-anode axis.

• Received 11 September 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.255001