Electric strength of some liquid dielectrics subjected to a Q-switched laser pulse

A concentrated Q-switched neodymium laser beam was used to break down the following dielectric liquids: doubly distilled water, xylene, cyclohexane, and benzene. The threshold value for each liquid was determined by taking the average for ten exposures for each sample, the five highest for which breakdown did not occur, and the five lowest for which breakdown did occur. Measurement of the laser power density in each sample was used to calculate the field strength of the beam by use of the Poynting vector.