Sadhan& Vol. 24, Part 6, December 1999, pp. 513 549. ~' Printed in India High speed plasma diagnostics for laser plasma interaction and fusion studies V N RAI, M SHUKLA, H C PANT and D D BHAWALKAR Laser Programme, Centre for Advanced Technology, PO CAT, Indore 452 013, India e-mail:
[email protected] MS received 26 February 1998; revised 25 May 1999 Abstract. Laser plasma interaction and fusion studies involve many high speed plasma diagnostics to determine the various parameters for explaining the physical processes taking place in plasma. Detection and analysis of short-term or transient radiations (X-ray and visible) are the bases for diagnosing the physical processes occurring during laser-plasma interaction or similar radiation-emitting processes. This paper reviews the development of various high speed plasma diagnostics which are not only applicable in determining the temporal, spatial and spectral properties of X-rays for this purpose but also have wide use in various other fields of research. Keywords. Laser-plasma interaction; fusion studies; transient radiations; high speed plasma. 1. Introduction Interaction of a high intensity laser light with matter (solid target) first vaporizes material from the surface which ultimately gets converted into plasma (ionized gas). This laser produced plasma expands into the vacuum where propagation of laser light is modified by the free electrons present in the plasma (Jacob et al 1976; Cairn & Sanderson 1980; Max 1982; Kruer 1988; Radziemski & Cramers 19891. The plasma formed by a high intensity or small time duration laser has very steep density and temperature gradients as compared to the plasma formed by the low intensity or long time duration laser.