Expand this Topic clickable element to expand a topic
Skip to content
Optica Publishing Group

Plasma interferometry and how the bound-electron contribution can bend fringes in unexpected ways

Not Accessible

Your library or personal account may give you access

Abstract

Utilizing a new average atom code, we calculate the index of refraction in C, Al, Ti, and Pd plasmas and show many conditions over which the bound-electron contribution dominates the free electrons as we explore photon energies from the optical to 100 eV (12 nm) soft x rays. For decades measurement of the electron density in plasmas by interferometers has relied on the approximation that the index of refraction in a plasma is due solely to the free electrons and therefore is less than 1. Recent measurements of Al plasmas using x-ray laser interferometers observed fringes bending in the opposite direction than expected due to the bound-electron contribution causing the index of refraction to be larger than 1. During the next decade x-ray free-electron lasers and other sources will be available to probe a wider variety of plasmas at higher densities and shorter wavelengths, so understanding the index of refraction in plasmas is essential.

© 2005 Optical Society of America

Full Article  |  PDF Article
More Like This
Plasmas with an index of refraction greater than 1

Joseph Nilsen and James H. Scofield
Opt. Lett. 29(22) 2677-2679 (2004)

Picosecond-resolution soft-x-ray laser plasma interferometry

Jorge Filevich, Jorge J. Rocca, Mario C. Marconi, Raymond F. Smith, James Dunn, Roisin Keenan, James R. Hunter, Stephen J. Moon, Joseph Nilsen, Andrew Ng, and Vyacheslav N. Shlyaptsev
Appl. Opt. 43(19) 3938-3946 (2004)

Soft-x-ray laser interferometry of a plasma with a tabletop laser and a Lloyd's mirror

J. J. Rocca, C. H. Moreno, M. C. Marconi, and K. Kanizay
Opt. Lett. 24(6) 420-422 (1999)

Cited By

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Figures (7)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Select as filters


Select Topics Cancel
© Copyright 2024 | Optica Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved