Interferometry on the compact toroid formation experiments at Phillips Laboratory

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Interferometric measurements of the line-averaged free electron density of plasma compact toroids as part of preliminary toroid formation experiments are presented. These experiments are in preparation for compact toroid acceleration experiments to be performed at Phillips Laboratory’s High Energy Plasma Division. The primary instrument used was a Michelson (double pass) interferometer operating with a HeNe laser at a wavelength of 633 nm. Density measurements of hydrogen and argon plasmas are correlated with magnetic field and spectroscopic measurements to characterize the toroid mass, velocity, and impurity distribution.