Use of the shearing interferometry for dense inhomogeneous plasma diagnostics

Investigated is a possibility of applying the shearing interferometry for diagnostics of a dense inhomogeneous laser plasma which makes it possible to measure the electron density without losses in accuracy near the critical surface. A shearing interferogram is formed upon interference of two identical images of the object under study shifted at some fixed distance. The value of the interference band deflection inside phase inhomogeneity depends on the gradient of the index of refraction in the direction of shift. It has been found that for studying the inner region of the laser plasma a small shift should be used, and for the external one - a large one. The version of a radial shift interferometry is shown to be optimum. For the inner region of the interferogram the error of the electron density restoration does not exceed 10%, and for the external one the error is comparable with that for the version of standard interferometry. A systematic analysis of the optimum type interferometers shows advantages of shearing interferometers. The maximum electron density recorded in experiments makes up approximately equal to 1020 cm-3, which is 3-5 times higher than the corresponding value obtained by a standard double-slit type interferometer at equal limiting parameters of the optical system applied