Taking measurements of radiation spanning the millimeter-wave range up to the near infrared range. Making measurements of turbulent density fluctuations with a proposed Thomson scattering diagnostic which operates in the Bragg scattering limit.
This summer so far:
- Developed a 94 GHz microwave radiometer along with three infrared (IR) radiometers at 1100, 1310, and 1550 nm.
- Implemented these instruments on COBRA, with measurements taken for various plasma conditions (gas puff, single wire, gas puff + wire, varying gases)
What is planned for the rest of the summer:
- Understand the current set of measurements of COBRA plasmas.
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- Determine whether a black body spectrum is apparent in the IR measurements. If so, temperatures can be derived.
- Further analyze the microwave measurements to derive the absolute intensity of the emissions – this will help (along with IR measurements) to determine the total energy expended into radiation the imploding plasma.
- Continue developing a collective Thomson scattering system, allowing for insight into how energy is expended into turbulence in an imploding gas puff plasma.