Absorption spectroscopy characterization measurements of a laser-produced Na atomic beam

Abstract

This work describes a pulsed Na atomic beam source developed for spectroscopic diagnosis of a high-power ion diode on the Particle Beam Fusion Accelerator II. The goal is to produce a {approximately} 10{sup 12}-cm{sup {minus}3}-density Na atomic beam that can be injected into the diode acceleration gap to measure electric and magnetic fields from the Stark and Zeeman effects through laser-induced-fluorescence or absorption spectroscopy. A {approximately} 10 ns fwhm, 1.06 {micro}m, 0.6 J/cm{sup 2} laser incident through a glass slide heats a Na-bearing thin film, creating a plasma that generates a sodium vapor plume. A {approximately} 1 {micro}sec fwhm dye laser beam tuned to 5,890 {angstrom} is used for absorption measurement of the Na I resonant doublet by viewing parallel to the film surface. The dye laser light is coupled through a fiber to a spectrograph with a time-integrated CCD camera. A two-dimensional mapping of the Na vapor density is obtained through absorption measurements at different spatial locations. Time-of-flight and Doppler broadening of the absorption with {approximately} 0.1 {angstrom} spectral resolution indicate that the Na neutral vapor temperature is about 0.5 to 2 eV. Laser-induced-fluorescence from {approximately} 1 {times} 10{sup 12}-cm{sup {minus}3} Na I 3s-3p lines observed with a streaked spectrograph provides a signal level sufficient for {approximately} 0.06 {angstrom} wavelength shift measurements in a mock-up of an ion diode experiment.