Abstract
The electric and magnetic fields surrounding a laser spark formed after an optical breakdown due to a focused nanosecond laser beam in a gaseous environment are examined in order to assess their possible influence on the processes going on in the gas medium, mainly chemical reactions triggered by the spark plasma radiation. The magnetic field is generated by the standard mechanism of crossed electron density and temperature gradients, the electric field is supposed to be produced by the plasma polarization due to its radial expansion across the self-generated magnetic field. A simple model of spark plasma formation near the tip of the focal cone is assumed, with a delayed breakdown, which allows the focused laser light to sweep the whole volume of the forming spark right down to the focal caustic and thus to form a centimeter long plasma cone. In this conical geometry, the value of plasma electric dipole moment is evaluated as a measurable quantity as well as approximate values of the electric and magnetic field near the focal caustic, where they both tend to grow in magnitude.