THOMSON-SCATTERING DIAGNOSTICS OF KR/NE AND KR/HE PLASMAS USING A PICOSECOND LASER

Thomson scattering from plasmas in high-pressure discharges for rare-gas-halide excimer-laser pumping was observed using a frequency-doubled 300 ps Nd: YAG laser. A temporal resolution of 1 ns was realized for the Thomson-scattering measurement, and detailed temporal changes of the electron density and temperature were measured in Kr/Ne and Kr/He plasmas. Calculations using a computer simulation showed good agreement with the experimental results, implying that the plasma dynamics is properly treated in the simulation.