Electron density measurement in gas discharge plasmas by optical and acoustic methods

A. Biagioni*, M. P. Anania, M. Bellaveglia, E. Chiadroni, A. Cianchi, D. Di Giovenale, G. Di Pirro, M. Ferrario, F. Filippi, A. Mostacci, R. Pompili, V. Shpakov, C. Vaccarezza, F. Villa, A. Zigler

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Plasma density represents a very important parameter for both laser wakefield and plasma wakefield acceleration, which use a gas-filled capillary plasma source. Several techniques can be used to measure the plasma density within a capillary discharge, which are mainly based on optical diagnostic methods, as for example the well-known spectroscopic method using the Stark broadening effect. In this work, we introduce a preliminary study on an alternative way to detect the plasma density, based on the shock waves produced by gas discharge in a capillary. Firstly, the measurements of the acoustic spectral content relative to the laser-induced plasmas by a solid target allowed us to understand the main properties of the acoustic waves produced during this kind of plasma generation; afterwards, we have extended such acoustic technique to the capillary plasma source in order to calibrate it by comparison with the stark broadening method.

Original languageEnglish
Article numberC08003
JournalJournal of Instrumentation
Volume11
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Aug 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab srl.

Keywords

  • Plasma diagnostics - interferometry, spectroscopy and imaging
  • Plasma generation (laser-produced, RF, x ray-produced)

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