Localized probe diagnostics of the plasma in an argon laser

A pulsed probe method is used for localized measurements of the electron energy distribution in the plasma of an Ar/sup +/ laser. The basic plasma properties are found under the assumption of an equilibrium distribution. The methods used to reconstruct arbitrary distributions from the probe characteristics are discussed, and model problems are solved. The radial profiles of the density and average energy of the plasma electrons and the energy distribution at various distances from the discharge axis are discussed. These distributions are found from the experimental data by the methods described above. The Ginzburg--Gurevich parameter is estimated; this parameter is a measure of the degree to which the actual energy distribution approximates a Maxwellian distribution or a Druyvesteyn distribution.