Laser scattering for plasma diagnostics in gas liner pinch

To illustrate the power of collective Thomson scattering for the diagnostics of high density discharge plasmas, respective experiments are described in which electron density and temperature are obtained spatially resolved in axial and radial direction simultaneously with spectroscopic observations of line profiles. The experiments were performed on the gas-liner pinch facility at Bochum. In most cases the device is used for accurate measurements of line shapes of multiply ionized atoms and can be operated in a stable and an unstable condition. (orig.)