Investigating the Interaction of Plasma Flows via Spectral Diagnostics of Ion Glow

An experimental study is performed of the collisionless interaction of plasma flows using spectral diagnostics. A monochromator with registration by a photo-electron multiplier (PMT) and a charge-coupled device (CCD) allows detection of ion acceleration as a laser plasma expands into a magnetized background plasma. The laser plasma ions show deceleration, the magnitude of which depends on the charge.