Published October 2008 | Version v1
Journal article

A pulse-burst laser system for a high-repetition-rate Thomson scattering diagnostic

  • 1. Department of Physics and Center for Magnetic Self-Organization in Laboratory and Astrophysical Plasmas, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)
  • 2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210 (United States)

Description

A ''pulse-burst'' laser system is being constructed for addition to the Thomson scattering diagnostic on the Madison Symmetric Torus (MST) reversed-field pinch. This laser is designed to produce a burst of up to 200 approximately 1 J Q-switched pulses at repetition frequencies 5-250 kHz. This laser system will operate at 1064 nm and is a master oscillator, power amplifier. The master oscillator is a compact diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser, intermediate amplifier stages are flashlamp-pumped Nd:YAG, and final stages will be flashlamp-pumped Nd:glass (silicate). Variable pulse width drive (0.3-20 ms) of the flashlamps is accomplished by insulated-gate bipolar transistor switching of large electrolytic capacitor banks. The burst train of laser pulses will enable the study of electron temperature (Te) and electron density (ne) dynamics in a single MST shot, and with ensembling, will enable correlation of Te and ne fluctuations with other fluctuating quantities.

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Review of Scientific Instruments
Journal Volume
79
Journal Issue
10
Journal Page Range
p. 10E736-10E736.4
ISSN
0034-6748
CODEN
RSINAK

Conference

Title
17. topical conference on high-temperature plasma diagnostics
Acronym
HTPD08
Dates
11-15 May 2008
Place
Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Optional Information

Notes
(c) 2008 American Institute of Physics