Influence of heating effect in Thomson scattering diagnosis of laser-produced plasmas in air

A state diagnosis of laser-produced plasma in air generated by a 1064 nm pulse laser was investigated by the Thomson scattering(TS) method. The evolutions of the electron temperature and electron density were obtained as a function of the time delay which ranged from300–3200 ns. The heating effect produced by the 532 nm probe beam with different energies on the air plasma at different interaction times was further studied using a time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy technique. The influence of the probe beam on the electron density was found to be negligible, whereas its influence on electron temperature is evident. In addition, the heating effect of the probe beam on the plasma strongly depends on the energy of the probe beam, and gradually weakens with increasing time delay. Our results are helpful for further understanding the TS method and its application in plasma diagnostics.     

Investigations on the time evolution of the plasma density in argon electron-beam plasma at intermediate pressure

The time evolution of the argon electron-beam plasma at intermediate pressure and low electron beam intensity was presented.By applying the amplitude modulation with the frequency of 20 Hz on the stable beam current,the plasma evolution was studied.A Faraday cup was used for the measurement of the electron beam current and a single electrostatic probe was used for the measurement of the ion current.Experimental results indicated that the ion current was in phase with the electron beam current in the pressure range from 200 Pa to 3000 Pa and in the beam current range lower than 20 mA,the residual density increased approximately linearly with the maximum density in the log-log plot and the fitting coefficient was irrelative to the pressure.And then three kinds of kinetic models were developed and the simulated results given by the kinetic model,without the consideration of the excited atoms,mostly approached to the experimental results.This indicated that the effect of the excited atoms on the plasma density can be ignored at intermediate pressure and low electron beam current intensity,which can greatly simplify the kinetic model.In the end,the decrease of the plasma density when the beam current was suddenly off was studied based on the simplified model and it was found that the decease characteristic at intermediate pressure was approximate to the one at high pressure at low electron beam intensity,which was in good accordance with the experimental results.     

Enhanced Raman Scattering of Elliptical Laser Beam in a Collisionless Plasma

This paper presents the Enhanced Raman scattering of a elliptical laser beam in a collisionless plasma. The transverse intensity gradient of a pump beam generates a Ponderomotive force, which modifies the background plasma density profile in a direction transverse to pump beam axis. This modification in density effects the incident laser beam, plasma wave and back-scattered beam. Non-linear differential equations for the beam width parameters of pump laser beam, plasma wave and back-scattered beam are set up and solved numerically. The interplay between the self-focusing of the main beam and SRS has been studied in detail. The analysis clearly shows a coupling between the main beam and the plasma wave, therefore an increase in the self-focusing of the pump beam at lower intensities increases the self-focusing of the plasma wave which inturn leads to an increase in the back-reflectivity of the scattered wave. Further, it is also predicted that strong self-focusing of the pump beam at higher plasma density leads to strong self-focusing of the plasma wave and results in an increase in SRS reflectivity.     

Effect of Self-focusing of Gaussian Laser Beam on Second Harmonic Generation in Relativistic Plasma

In the present paper, effect of self-focusing of gaussian laser beam on second harmonic generation in relativistic plasma is investigated. An expression for density perturbation associated with plasma wave has been derived, which acts as a source for second harmonic generation. Moment theory approach has been used to set up wave equation for the laser beam. Effect of the intensity of the laser beam and plasma density on the harmonic yield is studied in detail. It is predicted from the analysis that harmonic yield increases due to increase in the plasma density and intensity of the laser beam.     

Characteristics of plasma in a novel laser-assisted pulsed plasma thruster

A novel laser-assisted pulsed plasma thruster (LA-PPT) is proposed as an electric propulsion thruster, which separates laser ablation and electromagnetic acceleration. It aims for a higher specific impulse than that achieved with conventional LA-PPTs. Owing to the short-time discharge and the novel configuration, the physical mechanism of the discharge is unclear. Time and spatial-resolved optical emission spectroscopy was applied to investigate the variation in the plasma properties in the thruster discharge channel. The plasma species, electron temperature, and electron density were obtained and discussed. Our investigation revealed that there were H_α, H_β, H_γ, H_ε atoms, C I, C II, C III, C IV, Cl I, Cl II particles, and a small amount of CH, C₃, C₂, H₂ neutral molecular groups in the plasma. The electron temperature of the discharge channel of the thruster was within 0.6–4.9 eV, and the electron density was within (1.1–3.0) $\times $ 10¹⁸ cm⁻³, which shows that the optical emission spectroscopy method is to measure the electron excitation temperature and electron density in heavy particles. But the Langmuir probe method is to measure the temperature and density of free electrons. The use of laser instead of spark plug as the ignition mode significantly changed the plasma distribution in the discharge channel. Unlike the conventional PPT, which has high electron density near the thruster surface, LA-PPT showed relatively large electron density at the thruster outlet, which increased the thruster specific impulse. In addition, the change in the ignition mode enabled the electron density in the LA-PPT discharge channel to be higher than that in the conventional PPT. This proves that the ignition mode with laser replacing the spark plug effectively optimised the PPT performance.     

Wakefield generation by chirped super- Gaussian laser pulse in inhomogeneous plasma

We study the effect of nonlinearly chirped super-Gaussian (SG) laser pulse on wakefield generation in an inhomogeneous plasma. The different types of nonlinearly chirped pulse are employed, and different kinds of inhomogeneous plasma density are used. The maximum wakefield amplitude as the function of nonlinearly chirped laser pulse and inhomogeneous plasma density in parameter space are obtained. Moreover, the dependence of the maximum wakefield amplitude on the SG laser pulse index is discussed. This shows that a larger wakefield can be obtained when the chirped pulse and inhomogeneous density are in the critical regions. Wakefield generation can be controlled by adjusting the chirped SG pulse and inhomogeneous plasma density parameters. That is, we provide an efficient way for the controlled generation of the wakefield.     

Numerical simulation of inducing characteristics of high energy electron beam plasma for aerodynamics applications

The problem of flow active control by low temperature plasma is considered to be one of the most flourishing fields of aerodynamics due to its practical advantages.Compared with other means,the electron beam plasma is a potential flow control method for large scale flow.In this paper,a computational fluid dynamics model coupled with a multi-fluid plasma model is established to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics induced by electron beam plasma.The results demonstrate that the electron beam strongly influences the flow properties,not only in the boundary layers,but also in the main flow.A weak shockwave is induced at the electron beam injection position and develops to the other side of the wind tunnel behind the beam.It brings additional energy into air,and the inducing characteristics are closely related to the beam power and increase nonlinearly with it.The injection angles also influence the flow properties to some extent.Based on this research,we demonstrate that the high energy electron beam air plasma has three attractive advantages in aerodynamic applications,i.e.the high energy density,wide action range and excellent action effect.Due to the rapid development of near space hypersonic vehicles and atmospheric fighters,by optimizing the parameters,the electron beam can be used as an alternative means in aerodynamic steering in these applications.     

Programmable electron density patterns induced by the interaction of an array laser and underdense plasma

The spatially modulated electron distribution of plasma is the basis for obtaining programmable electron density patterns. It has an important influence on plasma technology applications. We propose an efficient scheme to realize controllable electron density patterns in underdense plasma based on the array laser–plasma interaction. Theoretical evidence for the realization of programmable electron density patterns and the corresponding electrostatic field is provided analytically, which is confirmed by particle-in-cell simulations. Results show that the spatial distribution of electron density in the propagation and transverse directions of the laser can be highly modulated to obtain rich programmable electron density patterns by adjusting the array pattern code and pulse width of the array laser beam.     

Analysis of the characteristics of the plasma of an RF driven ion source for a neutral beam injector

A radio frequency(RF)driven ion source is a very important component of a neutral beam injector for large magnetic confinement fusion devices.In order to study the key technology and physics of an RF driven ion source for a neutral beam injector in China,an RF ion source test facility was developed at the Institute of Plasma Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences.In this paper,a two-dimensional fluid model is used to simulate the fundamental physical characteristics of RF plasma discharge.Simulation results show the relationship of the characteristics of plasma(such as electron density and electron temperature)and RF power and gas pressure.In order to verify the effectiveness of the model,the characteristics of the plasma are investigated using a Langmuir probe.In this paper,experimental and simulation results are presented,and the possible reasons for the discrepancies between them are given.This paper can help us understand the characteristics of RF plasma discharge,and give a basis for further R&D for an RF ion source.     

Self-focusing of Gaussian Laser Beam Through Collisionless Plasmas and Its Effect on Second Harmonic Generation

This paper presents an investigation of self-focusing of gaussian laser beam in a collisionless plasma and its effect on second harmonic generation. In the presence of gaussian beam, the carriers get redistributed from the high field region to low field region by ponderomotive force and transverse density gradient is established in plasma which in turn generates the plasma wave at pump frequency. This plasma wave interacts with incident laser beam and a second harmonic is generated. Furthermore, if the initial power of input beam is more than the critical power for self-focusing, the beam gets self-focused and hence the generated plasma wave and second harmonic which depend upon the background electron concentration and power of the main beam also get modified accordingly.     

Optical path design of phase contrast imaging on HL-2A tokamak

A phase contrast imaging(PCI) diagnostic has recently been developed on HL-2 A tokamak. It can diagnose plasma density fluctuations with maximum wave number of 15 cm~(-1) and wave number resolution of 2 cm~(-1). The time resolution reaches 2 μs. A 10.6 μm CO_2 laser is expanded to a beam with a diameter of 30 mm and injected into the plasma as an incident beam,injecting into plasma. The emerging scattered and unscattered beams are contrasted by a phase plate. The ideas of optical path design are presented in this paper, together with the parameters of the main optical components. The whole optical path of PCI is not only carefully designed, but also constructed on HL-2 A. First calibration results show the ability of this system to catch plasma turbulence in a wide frequency domain.     

Self-Focusing of Elliptical Laser Beam in Collisional Plasma and Its Effect on Stimulated Brillouin Scattering Process

This paper presents an investigation of self-focusing of elliptical laser beam in a collisional plasma and its effect on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) process. The non-linearity arising through non-uniform heating leads to redistribution of carriers, which modifies the background plasma density profile in a direction transverse to pump beam axis. This modification affects the incident laser beam, ion-acoustic wave and back scattered beam. Non-linear differential equations for the beam width parameters of the pump laser beam, ion-acoustic wave and back scattered beam are set up and solved numerically. It is observed from the analysis that the focusing of waves greatly enhances the SBS back-reflectivity.     

Time-resolved measurement of energy loss of low-energy heavy ions in a plasma using a surface-barrier charged-particle detector

We tested an experimental setup for measurement of non-linear stopping of low-energy heavy ions in non-ideal plasmas. In this setup, we used a silicon surface-barrier charged-particle detector (SSBD), which could measure the energy of single ions. For synchronization between the plasma production and the injection of single projectiles, a fast beam kicker was installed in front of the plasma target. In order to test this setup, we used a laser-produced polyethylene plasma target instead of a shock-driven plasma device, which is under R&D process. Results of a preliminary energy loss measurement for low-speed heavy ions in the laser plasma are reported. Performance on the time resolution evaluated by using a carbon-foil target is also presented.     

Machine learning combined with Langmuir probe measurements for diagnosis of dusty plasma of a positive column

This paper reports the use of machine learning to enhance the diagnosis of a dusty plasma. Dust in a plasma has a large impact on the properties of the plasma. According to a probe diagnostic experiment on a dust-free plasma combined with machine learning, an experiment on a dusty plasma is designed and carried out. Using a specific experimental device, dusty plasma with a stable and controllable dust particle density is generated. A Langmuir probe is used to measure the electron density and electron temperature under different pressures, discharge currents, and dust particle densities. The diagnostic result is processed through a machine learning algorithm,and the error of the predicted results under different pressures and discharge currents is analyzed,from which the law of the machine learning results changing with the pressure and discharge current is obtained. Finally, the results are compared with theoretical simulations to further analyze the properties of the electron density and temperature of the dusty plasma.     

Characterization of a microsecond pulsed non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure Ar plasma using laser scattering and optical emission spectroscopy

A non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure argon(Ar) plasma excited by microsecond pulse is studied experimentally by laser scattering and optical emission spectroscopy(OES), and theoretically by collisional-radiative(CR) model. More specifically, the electron temperature and electron density of plasma are obtained directly by the laser Thomson scattering, the gas temperature is measured by laser Raman scattering, the optical emissions of excited Ar states of plasma are measured by OES. The laser scattering results show that the electron temperature is about 1 eV which is similar to that excited by 60 Hz AC power, but the gas temperature is as low as 300 K compared to about 700 K excited by 60 Hz AC power. It is shown that the microsecond pulsed power supply, rather than nanosecond ones, is short enough to reduce the gas temperature of atmospheric pressure plasma to near room temperature. The electron temperature and electron density are also obtained by CR model based on OES, and find that the intensities of the optical emission intensity lines of 727.41, 811.73, 841.08, 842.83, 852.44 and 912.86 nm of Ar can be used to characterize the behavior of electron density and electron temperature, it is very useful to quickly estimate the activity of the atmospheric pressure Ar plasma in many applications.     

The plume diagnostics of 30 cm ion thruster with an advanced plasma diagnostics system

In order to achieve a better understanding of plume characteristics of LIPS-300 ion thruster, the beam current density, ion energy and electron number density of LIPS-300 ion thruster plume are studied with an Advanced Plasma Diagnostics System(APDS) which allows for simultaneous in situ measurements of various properties characterizing ion thruster, such as plasma density, plasma potential, plasma temperature and ion beam current densities, ion energy distribution and so on. The results show that the beam current density distribution has a double‘wing' shape. The high energy ions were found in small scan angle, while low energy ions were found in greater scan angle. Electron number density has a similar shape with the beam current density distribution.     

Estimation of plasma density perturbation from dusty plasma injection by laser irradiation on tungsten target in DiPS

To investigate the interaction of dusty plasma with magnetized plasmas at divertor plasma simulator, radial profiles of plasma density(ne) and electron temperature were measured in terms of plasma discharge currents and magnetic flux intensity by using a fast scanning probes system with triple tips. Dusty plasma with dusts(a generation rate of 3 μg s~(-1) and a size of 1–10 μm)was produced via interactions between a high-power laser beam and a full tungsten target. As ne increases, the scale of the effects of dusty plasma injection on magnetized plasmas was decreased. Also, the duration of transient fluctuation was reduced. For numerical estimation of plasma density perturbation due to dusty plasma injection, the result was ~10% at a core region of the magnetized plasma with n_e of(2–5)×10~(11) cm~(-3) at steady state condition.     

Response of the low-pressure hot-filament discharge plasma to a positively biased auxiliary disk electrode

In a steady-state plasma, the loss rate of plasma particles to the chamber wall and surfaces in contact with plasma is balanced by the ionization rate of background neutrals in the hot-filament discharges. The balance between the loss rate and ionization rate of plasma particles (electrons and ions) maintains quasi-neutrality of the bulk plasma. In the presence of an external perturbation, it tries to retain its quasi-neutrality condition. In this work, we studied how the properties of bulk plasma are affected by an external DC potential perturbation. An auxiliary biased metal disk electrode was used to introduce a potential perturbation to the plasma medium. A single Langmuir probe and an emissive probe, placed in the line of the discharge axis, were used for the characterization of the bulk plasma. It is observed that only positive bias to the auxiliary metal disk increases the plasma potential, electron temperature, and plasma density but these plasma parameters remain unaltered when the disk is biased with a negative potential with respect to plasma potential. The observed plasma parameters for two different-sized, positively as well as negatively biased, metal disks are compared and found inconsistent with the existing theoretical model at large positive bias voltages. The role of the primary energetic electrons population in determining the plasma parameters is discussed. The experimentally observed results are qualitatively explained on the basis of electrostatic confinement arising due to the loss of electrons to a biased metal disk electrode.     

Spatio-temporal evaluation of Zr plasma parameters in a single-beam-splitting double-pulse laser-induced plasma

The plasma shielding effect is one of the major weaknesses of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS) as it causes non-linearity in signal strength. Although LIBS is typically carried out in constant laser energy, this non-linearity causes a reduction in sensitivity. In this work, we systematically examine laser-induced plasma, formed by two different excitation source modes, i.e. single pulse(SP)-excitation and single-beam-splitting double-pulse(SBSDP)-excitation over Zr-2.5% Nb alloy. The two most important plasma parameters influencing the emission line intensity, plasma temperature(T_e) and electron density(N_e) were studied and compared for both modes of laser excitation. Comparison of the results conclusively demonstrates that due to the splitting of the laser energy in the SBS-DP mode, the plasma shielding effect is significantly reduced. The reduced plasma shielding translates to an increased laser–sample coupling under SBS-DP mode. Temporal imaging of the total intensity of the laserinduced plasma in both excitation modes was also studied. The study shows how the plasma shielding effect can be reduced to improve the analytical quality of the LIBS methodology.     

Ion source plasma parameters measurement based on Langmuir probe with commercial frequency sweep

Langmuir probe is one of the main diagnostic tools to measure the plasma parameters in the ion source. In this article, the commercial frequency power, which is sine wave of 50 Hz, was supplied on the Langmuir probe to measure the plasma parameters. The best feature of this probe sweep voltage is that it does not need extra design. The probe I-V characteristic curve can be got in less than 5 ms and the plasma parameters, the electron temperature and the electron density, varying with the time can be got in one plasma discharge of 400 ms.