Simple, low-cost, versatile CCD spectrometer for plasma spectroscopy

摘要

The authors have constructed a simple, low-cost CCD spectrometer capable of both high resolution ((Delta)(lambda) (le) 0.015 nm) and large bandpass (110 nm with (Delta)(lambda) (approximately)0.3 nm). These two modes of operation provide two broad areas of capability for plasma spectroscopy. The first major application is measurement of emission line broadening; the second is emission line surveys from the ultraviolet to the near infrared. Measurements have been made on a low-temperature plasma produced by a miniature electrostatic plasma source and the high-temperature plasma in the MST Reversed-Field Pinch. The spectrometer is a modified Jarrell-Ash 0.5 m Ebert-Fastie monochromator. Light is coupled into the entrance slit with a fused silica fiber optic bundle. The exposure time (2 ms minimum) is controlled by a fast electromechanical shutter. The exit plane detector is a compact and robust CCD detector developed for amateur astronomy by Santa Barbara Instrument Group. The CCD detector is controlled and read out by a Macintosh(reg sign) computer. This spectrometer is sophisticated enough to serve well in a research laboratory, yet is simple and inexpensive enough to be affordable for instructional use.