Measurements of neutral helium density in helicon plasmas

Laser-induced-fluorescence (LIF) is used to measure the density of helium atoms in a helicon plasma source. For a pump wavelength of 587.725 nm (vacuum) and laser injection along the magnetic field, the LIF signal exhibits a signal decrease at the Doppler shifted central wavelength. The drop in signal results from the finite optical depth of the plasma and the magnitude of the decrease is proportional to the density of excited state neutral atoms. Using Langmuir probe measurements of plasma density and electron temperature and a collisional-radiative model, the absolute ground state neutral density is calculated from the optical depth measurements. Optimal plasma performance, i.e., the largest neutral depletion on the axis of the system, is observed for antenna frequencies of 13.0 and 13.5 MHz and magnetic field strengths of 550-600 G.     

Experimental characterization of temperature sensitive dyes for laser induced fluorescence thermometry

Laser induced fluorescence (LIF) is a non-intrusive optical technique that uses fluorescent dyes to measure whole-field fluid scalars such as temperature, concentration, pH, etc. LIF measurements' accuracy is strongly influenced by the fluorescent dye's behavior under different experimental conditions. In particular, ratiometric LIF thermometry accuracy depends on the correct selection of fluorescent dyes mixtures. Therefore, a thorough characterizations of fluorescent dyes is needed to obtain optimal mixtures and suitable optical configurations for given experimental conditions. This work presents the experimental characterization of fluorescein-27 (FL27) and rhodamine-B (RhB) mixtures to determine suitable aqueous solutions for ratiometric LIF thermometry. The mixtures' fluorescence emission intensity was measured with a spectrofluorometer, and the influence of concentration ratio (C(RhB)/C(FL27)), temperature, excitation wavelength (λ(ext)), and pH were analyzed. The results show that the temperature dependence of FL27 emission intensity changed from a negative to a positive value as the excitation wavelength increased. The temperature sensitivity (4.0% per °C) of RhB and FL27 mixture under 532 nm excitation wavelength was found to be higher than that of the commonly used mixture of RhB and Rh110 (2.0% per °C) at the same excitation wavelength. While the emission intensities of the dyes are sensitive to pH value, the temperature dependence is unaffected. The influence of concentration ratio on temperature sensitivity depends on both the detected bands of the emitted spectrum and the temperature; the concentration ratio should be selected based on the measured temperature scope. A new multicolor method or advanced two color method with high temperature sensitivity (6.0% or 10.0% per °C) is presented. This technique was specially developed to improve whole-field temperature measurements.     

Measurement of axial neutral density profiles in a microwave discharge ion thruster by laser absorption spectroscopy with optical fiber probes

In order to reveal the physical processes taking place within the "μ10" microwave discharge ion thruster, internal plasma diagnosis is indispensable. However, the ability of metallic probes to access microwave plasmas biased at a high voltage is limited from the standpoints of the disturbance created in the electric field and electrical isolation. In this study, the axial density profiles of excited neutral xenon were successfully measured under ion beam acceleration by using a novel laser absorption spectroscopy system. The target of the measurement was metastable Xe I 5p(5)((2)P(0) (3/2))6s[3/2](0) (2) which absorbed a wavelength of 823.16 nm. Signals from laser absorption spectroscopy that swept a single-mode optical fiber probe along the line of sight were differentiated and converted into axial number densities of the metastable neutral particles in the plasma source. These measurements revealed a 10(18) m(-3) order of metastable neutral particles situated in the waveguide, which caused two different modes during the operation of the μ10 thruster. This paper reports a novel spectroscopic measurement system with axial resolution for microwave plasma sources utilizing optical fiber probes.     

Continuous wave cavity ring down spectroscopy measurements of velocity distribution functions of argon ions in a helicon plasma

We report continuous wave cavity ring down spectroscopy (CW-CRDS) measurements of ion velocity distribution functions (VDFs) in low pressure argon helicon plasma (magnetic field strength of 600 G, T(e) ≈ 4 eV and n ≈ 5 × 10(11) cm(-3)). Laser induced fluorescence (LIF) is routinely used to measure VDFs of argon ions, argon neutrals, helium neutrals, and xenon ions in helicon sources. Here, we describe a CW-CRDS diagnostic based on a narrow line width, tunable diode laser as an alternative technique to measure VDFs in similar regimes but where LIF is inapplicable. Being an ultra-sensitive, cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopic technique; CW-CRDS can also provide a direct quantitative measurement of the absolute metastable state density. The proof of principle CW-CRDS measurements presented here are of the Doppler broadened absorption spectrum of Ar II at 668.6138 nm. Extrapolating from these initial measurements, it is expected that this diagnostic is suitable for neutrals and ions in plasmas ranging in density from 1 × 10(9) cm(-3) to 1 × 10(13) cm(-3) and target species temperatures less than 20 eV.     

Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) measurements of a pulsed electrothermal plasma jet

The characteristics of a pulsed plasma jet originating from an electrothermal capillary discharge have been investigated using laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) measurement. Previous emission spectroscopic measurements of a 3.1 kJ plasma jet show that upstream of the Mach disk the temperature and electron number density are about 14,000 K and 10¹⁷ cm⁻³, while downstream of the Mach disk the values are about 25,000 K and 10¹⁸ cm⁻³, respectively. However, these values are based on line-of-sight integrated measurements that may be misleading. Hence, LIF is being used to provide both spatially and temporally resolved measurements. Our recent work has been directed at using planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging of atomic copper in the plasma jet flow field. Copper is a good candidate for PLIF studies because it is present throughout the plasma and has electronic transitions that provide an excellent pump-detect strategy. Our PLIF results to date show that emission measurements may give a misleading picture of the flow Field, as there appears to be a large amount of relatively low temperature copper outside the barrel shock, which may lead to errors in temperature inferred from emission spectroscopy. In this paper, the copper LIF image is presented and at the moment, relative density of atomic copper, which is distributed in the upstream of the pulsed plasma jet, is discussed qualitatively.     

纯净靶激光等离子体力学特性的理论模拟

基于磁流体力学模型,对Xe、He、C、N、O、Ne、Al、Ar等元素在激光辐照下的等离子体力学特性进行了研究,并且以Al元素为例,研究了不同波长情况下的靶材烧蚀速度以及烧蚀压力的变化趋势.结果表明:在相同入射条件下,除Xe外,He、C、N、O、Ne、Al、Ar这几种元素的烧蚀压力比较接近,并且各元素的烧蚀速度的情况也大体相同,这样从增加火箭的有效载荷的角度考虑,采用大气驱动模式将是非常有利的.另外数值模拟结果还表明,随着入射光波长的增加,靶材的烧蚀速度、烧蚀压力单调下降并逐渐趋于平缓,尤其是当入射光波长小于某一个值时,这个变化非常迅速.因此,如果单纯从入射光波长角度考虑,波长越短将越有利于产生更大的推力.但短波长激光被大气散射严重,造成极大的能量损耗.因而在实际应用时,应该根据飞行器所处的不同飞行位置合理选择驱动光波长.     

High repetition rate laser produced soft x-ray source for ultrafast x-ray absorption near edge structure measurements

Recent progress in high intensity ultrafast laser systems provides the opportunity to produce laser plasma x-ray sources exhibiting broad spectrum and high average x-ray flux that are well adapted to x-ray absorption measurements. In this paper, the development of a laser based x-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) beamline exhibiting high repetition rate by using the Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS) facility 100 Hz laser system (100 mJ, 35 fs at 800 nm) is presented. This system is based on a broadband tantalum solid target soft x-ray source and a grazing incidence grating spectrometer in the 1-5 nm wavelength range. To demonstrate the high potential of this laser based XANES technique in condensed matter physics, material science, or biology, measurements realized with several samples are presented: VO2 vanadium L edge, Si3N4 nitrogen K edge, and BPDA/PPD polyimide carbon K edge. The characteristics of this laser based beamline are discussed in terms of brightness, signal to noise ratio, and compared to conventional synchrotron broadband x-ray sources which allow achieving similar measurements. Apart from the very compact size and the relative low cost, the main advantages of such a laser based soft x-ray source are the picosecond pulse duration and the perfect synchronization between this x-ray probe and a laser pulse excitation which open the way to the realization of time resolved x-ray absorption measurements with picosecond range time resolution to study the dynamics of ultrafast processes and phase transition.     

High-temperature high-pressure all-metal pulsed source of van der Waals dimers: Towards the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen experiment

An all-metal pulsed source of van der Waals (vdW) dimers was constructed; it operates at temperatures up to 1000 K and carrier gas stagnation pressures up to 10 bars. Performance of the source was demonstrated in the production and spectroscopy of both CdAr and Cd(2) molecules in a supersonic beam expansion. Simulation of the recorded laser induced fluorescence (LIF) excitation spectra using the B(3)1(5(3)P(1)) ← X(1)0(+)(5(1)S(0)) and b(3)0(u) (+)(5(3)P(1))←X(1)0(g) (+)(5(1)S(0)) transitions in CdAr and Cd(2), respectively, showed that these molecules were produced with a rotational temperature in the range from 3 K to 19 K. The source was incorporated into an experimental set-up dedicated to the realization of Bohm's spin-1∕2 particle version of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen experiment for ((111)Cd)(2) molecules.     

Spin noise spectroscopy in semiconductors

Spin noise spectroscopy in semiconductors is an optical method that allows nearly perturbation free measurements of the spin dynamics of electrons in thermal equilibrium. The article explains the basic principles of spin noise spectroscopy and introduces an optimized experimental setup which promotes spin noise spectroscopy to an extraordinary sensitive tool. Exemplary measurements on n-doped bulk GaAs yield the temperature dependence of the electron spin relaxation time and the electron Landé g factor and reveal a dependence of the spin relaxation time on the laser probe wavelength. The magnitude and wavelength dependence of the measured spin noise signal compares well to basic calculations.     

晶体已加工表面频率特征对亚表层温度场的影响

为了更加准确地分析表面形貌对KH2PO4(KDP)晶体元件激光损伤和使用性能的影响，通过功率谱密度和连续小波变换对KDP晶体已加工表面存在的实际频率特征进行提取和重构。利用波动光学理论分析经入射波长1.064 μm、功率20 MW/μm2的激光束照射1 ns后，表面频率特征对KDP晶体亚表层光场及温度场的影响。结果表明，当表面频率特征的波长越接近入射光波长1.064 μm，KDP晶体亚表层的光场畸变现象越严重，会造成局部聚焦，温度越高；当波长超过20 μm时，在振幅不变的情况下，最高温度随着波长的增加基本不变。通过切削实验获得的KDP晶体已加工表面上明显存在的波长分别为14 μm、50 μm和140 μm，对KDP晶体亚表层造成的温升分别为56 K、22 K和12 K。当波长相同时，KDP晶体的最高温度与表面频率幅值成线性关系。随着表面频率波长的增加，温度最高点的位置向KDP晶体内部延伸。     

Multimode laser beam analyzer instrument using electrically programmable optics

Presented is a novel design of a multimode laser beam analyzer using a digital micromirror device (DMD) and an electronically controlled variable focus lens (ECVFL) that serve as the digital and analog agile optics, respectively. The proposed analyzer is a broadband laser characterization instrument that uses the agile optics to smartly direct light to the required point photodetectors to enable beam measurements of minimum beam waist size, minimum waist location, divergence, and the beam propagation parameter M(2). Experimental results successfully demonstrate these measurements for a 500 mW multimode test laser beam with a wavelength of 532 nm. The minimum beam waist, divergence, and M(2) experimental results for the test laser are found to be 257.61 μm, 2.103 mrad, 1.600 and 326.67 μm, 2.682 mrad, 2.587 for the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. These measurements are compared to a traditional scan method and the results of the beam waist are found to be within error tolerance of the demonstrated instrument.     

被动型CPT原子钟光源系统的设计与实现

简要介绍了相干布局数囚禁(CPT)原子钟的机理,分析了典型的CPT原子钟的系统构成.在此基础上,针对CPT原子钟的特点,以Rb原子钟为设计对象,设计并制作了一种可出射稳定激光频率并能与其他CPT原子钟相兼容的光源系统.该光源系统采用热电致冷器(TEC)对激光器进行温度控制,利用直接数字频率合成(DDS)技术和锁定放大(LIA)技术实现激光器光频稳定.测试结果表明,光源系统温度对波长的控制精度为0.001 2 nm,在此条件下,系统可以很好地完成激光光频的锁定.     

Polarized light interferometer for laser fusion studies

A polarized light interferometer, suitable for the high-speed photography of microscopic objects in laser fusion experiments, is described. Based on a Wollaston prism as beam splitter, its main advantages are its relative simplicity, the absence of alignment and stability problems, and the extended spectral range down to 0.18 mum wavelength. The interferometer has been successfully applied in CO(2) and neodymium laser plasma interaction studies with laser illumination at 0.694 mum (ruby laser) and 0.265 mum (4th harmonic of the Nd(3+) laser) wavelength.     

Xe capillary target for laser-plasma extreme ultraviolet source

A cryogenic Xe jet system with an annular nozzle has been developed in order to continuously fast supply a Xe capillary target for generating a laser-plasma extreme ultraviolet (EUV) source. The cooling power of the system was evaluated to be 54 W, and the temperature stability was +/-0.5 K at a cooling temperature of about 180 K. We investigated experimentally the influence of pressure loss inside an annular nozzle on target formation by shortening the nozzle length. Spraying caused by cavitation was mostly suppressed by mitigating the pressure loss, and a focused jet was formed. Around a liquid-solid boundary, a solid-Xe capillary target (10070 microm phi) was formed with a velocity of < or =0.01 ms. Laser-plasma EUV generation was tested by focusing a Nd:YAG laser beam on the target. The results suggested that an even thinner-walled capillary target is required to realize the inertial confinement effect.     

Modification of the surface of cross-linked oligophenylene based on 4,4''-diacetyldiphenyloxide and acetophenone by IR laser radiation

The influence of quasi-momentum IR laser radiation (CO₂ laser; wavelength λ = 10.6 μm; power density W = 70 W cm⁻²) on the physicochemical and mechanical properties of the surface of articles made from oligophenylene has been investigated. These oligomers were produced by the reaction of 4,4'-diacetyldiphenyl oxide and acetophenone and were filled with graphite. The measurements of the interfacial wetting angle demonstrated the influence of the irradiation dose on the surface energy. The relations between the coefficient of friction, wear and microhardness and the IR radiation dose were established. It was found that quasi-momentum IR laser radiation makes it possible to change significantly the structure of surface layers and to improve the tribological properties of polyphenylene without changing its chemical structure and initial physical properties as a whole.     

Non-contact optical probing sensor — applying optical feedback effects in laser diodes

The possibility of a non-contact optical distance/displacement sensor, making use of optical intensity variations caused by optical feedback effects in laser diodes, was investigated. A compact sensor system and a simple signal processing technique were proposed to realise the sensor system. The experimental results indicated that the resolutions were of sub-mm order in distance measurements and about 40 nm in displacement measurements. The allowable maximum speed of displacement can be improved up to several cm/s. The influence of temperature variation on the measurement accuracy was discussed and the advanced sensing technique utilising a synthetic wavelength of laser diodes was proposed. These methods are applicable even to an object with rough surfaces.     

Xe液体微滴靶激光等离子体光源实验

基于Xe的惰性和在13~14 nm波段高的辐射强度,Xe被认为是极紫外投影光刻(EUVL)潜在的靶材,为此设计和研制了一台液体微滴喷射靶激光等离子体(LPP)极紫外光源。详细地研究了Xe液体微滴喷射靶的光谱辐射特性、在13.4 nm的激光-EUV转换效率、辐射稳定性及碎屑产生状况。实验结果表明,Xe在13.4 nm的最高转换效率可以达到0.75%/2πsr/2%bw,辐射稳定性±4%(1σ),在激光打靶10⁵次后无碎屑产生。     

A small Raman laser based on a KGd(WO<Subscript>4</Subscript>)<Subscript>2</Subscript> : Nd<Superscript>3+</Superscript> Crystal (λ=1.538 µm) with passive resonator <Emphasis Type="Italic">Q</Emphasis> switching

Generation properties of a Raman laser based on a KGd(WO₄)₂ : Nd³⁺ crystal and operating in a mode of passive resonator Q switching by a YAG : V³⁺ crystal at a wavelength safe for human eyes is studied. A small laser with a mass of 35 g, operating over a wide temperature range at a wavelength of 1.54 µm and an output energy of >6 mJ, has been created on the basis of these studies.__________Translated from Pribory i Tekhnika Eksperimenta, No. 2, 2005, pp. 112–113.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Ustimenko, Zabotin.     

X-ray diffraction in the pulsed laser heated diamond anvil cell

We have developed in situ x-ray synchrotron diffraction measurements of samples heated by a pulsed laser in the diamond anvil cell at pressure up to 60 GPa. We used an electronically modulated 2-10 kHz repetition rate, 1064-1075 nm fiber laser with 1-100 μs pulse width synchronized with a gated x-ray detector (Pilatus) and time-resolved radiometric temperature measurements. This enables the time domain measurements as a function of temperature in a microsecond time scale (averaged over many events, typically more than 10,000). X-ray diffraction data, temperature measurements, and finite element calculations with realistic geometric and thermochemical parameters show that in the present experimental configuration, samples 4 μm thick can be continuously temperature monitored (up to 3000 K in our experiments) with the same level of axial and radial temperature uniformities as with continuous heating. We find that this novel technique offers a new and convenient way of fine tuning the maximum sample temperature by changing the pulse width of the laser. This delicate control, which may also prevent chemical reactivity and diffusion, enables accurate measurement of melting curves, phase changes, and thermal equations of state.     

激光光谱技术在燃烧流场诊断中的应用

介绍了用于燃烧流场诊断的激光光谱技术的研究进展,叙述了相干反斯托克斯喇曼散射、自发振动喇曼散射、激光诱导荧光、分子滤波瑞利散射、可调谐二极管激光吸收光谱等技术的基本原理及其实验系统.给出并分析了激光光谱技术对预混火焰稳态燃烧场和固体燃剂瞬态燃烧场的温度、主要组分及浓度、流场密度和火焰构造测试的实验结果.实验结果表明,基...