Transfer of microwave energy along a filament plasma column in air

We demonstrate the coupling of microwave radiation into a plasma channel formed by laser filamentation in air, leading to the amplification by two orders of magnitude of longitudinal oscillations of the plasma. Transfer of this longitudinal excitation toward unexcited region of the plasma column occurs over >10 cm, in good agreement with a theoretical model describing the propagation of a TM wave guided along the surface between air and plasma. We foresee that high-power low-frequency electromagnetic waves injected into a multi-filament plasma could initiate and sustain a long-lived plasma over several meters distance.