A Multi-Pulse Ruby Laser Recording the Temporal Evolution of Plasma Parameters by Light Scattering

摘要

A ruby laser which delivers about 30 equidistant pulses of MW peak power during each flashlamp discharge is described. The sequence of pulses is obtained by high repetition rate Q-switching with a KD*P Pockels cell. The laser system was developed for scattering diagnostics with the object of recording the temporal evolution of plasma parameters in the sub-millisecond time scale. A scattering experiment using a high current carbon arc plasma as a test object was carried out to demonstrate the capabilities of the system. Results show that for application to a Tokamak plasma a system with higher pulse energies and improved beam divergence is required. For this purpose investigations on oscillator-amplifier operation were carried out. Results demonstrate the validity of this approach.