A powerful laser aimed at the sky can create a virtual lightning rod and deflect the path of the rays, as scientists from the Ecole Polytechnique in France were able to demonstrate in an article published in Photonics of nature. The findings could pave the way for improved lightning protection techniques for critical infrastructure such as power plants, airports and launch sites.

We believe that this experimental breakthrough will enable progress in the field of lightning protection and lightning physics.”

To date, the most common lightning protection device is Franklin’s advice, an electrically conductive metal mast that captures lightning strikes and safely directs them to the ground. The new device, unveiled today, acts as a virtual mobile rod that can offer an alternative to a laser beam aimed at the sky. “We believe that this experimental breakthrough will allow for progress in lightning protection and lightning physics,” the article says.

Physical Aurélien War and his staff conducted experiments in the summer of 2021 on Mt. Santis in the northeast of Switzerland to see if a laser can guide a beam. A car-sized laser, producing up to 1,000 pulses per second, was installed next to a telecommunications tower that receives about 100 lightning strikes a year.

For more than six hours of operation during lightning activity, the authors observed that the laser deflected the course of 4 lightning discharges upward. Their observations were confirmed by using high frequency electromagnetic waves generated by lightning to detect lightning strikes. Increased detection of X-ray flashes during impacts also confirmed successful targeting.