A study of gas breakdown induced by the ultraviolet second harmonic of a single mode ruby laser has revealed an anomalously high threshold intensity for hydrogen. In addition, it has been demonstrated for the first time that the focal volume dependence of the breakdown threshold of a number of molecular and noble gases is influenced by the wavelength of the incident radiation.
Evidence for the self-focusing in the ultraviolet gas breakdown has been obtained by measuring the spectral characteristics of the forward scattered radiation.