The splitting of CO₂ was studied in a pulsed plasma discharge produced in a coaxial gun at voltages between ~1 and 2 kV and peak discharge currents of 7 to 14 kA. The plasma was ejected from the gun at a speed of a few km/s and had electron temperatures between 11 and 14 eV with peak electron densities ~2.4 × 10²¹ particles m⁻³. Spectroscopic measurements were carried out in the plasma plume produced at pressures between 1 and 5 Torr, and evidence of CO₂ dissociation into oxygen and CO was found. An increased discharge current led to the observation of more intense spectra lines and the presence of new oxygen lines, which implies more dissociation channels. Several dissociation mechanisms are discussed, the main candidate being the splitting of the molecule by direct electron impact. Estimates of dissociation rates are made based on measured plasma parameters and interaction cross-sections available in the literature. A possible application of this technique is in future Mars missions where the coaxial plasma gun running in the atmosphere could be able to produce oxygen at a rate of the order of over 100 g per hour in a highly repetitive regime.

High-power pulsed lasers are used more and more as tools for particle acceleration. Characterization of the accelerated particles in real-time and monitoring of the electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) during particle acceleration are critical challenges in laser acceleration experiments. Here, we used the CETAL-PW laser facility at NILPRP for particle acceleration from different thin metallic targets, at laser intensities of the order of $3\times {10}^{21}$ W/cm². We investigated the dependence of EMP amplitude (EMPA) and the accelerated electrons’ maximal energy (AEME), on thickness, resistivity, and atomic number of the target. We have found a quasi-linear dependence between EMPA and AEME and propose an analytical model for the GHz EMP emission. The model considers the neutralization current flowing through the target stalk as the main source of the EMP in the GHz domain, the current being produced by the positive charge accumulated on the target after the electron’s acceleration from the rear side of a metallic target. The data presented here support the possibility of using EMP signals to characterize the laser-accelerated particles in a real-time non-invasive way.