Work

Reconstruction of 2D line-integrated electron density using angular filter refractometry and a fast marching Eikonal solver

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Refraction of an optical probe beam by a plasma can be measured with angular filter refractometry (AFR), which produces an image of the beam's 2D spatial profile that contains intensity contours corresponding to curves of constant refraction angle. Further analysis is required to reconstruct the underlying line-integrated electron density. Most prior efforts to calculate density from AFR data have been limited to 1D analysis or forward-fitting techniques. In this paper, we detail the use of a fast-marching Eikonal solver to directly invert AFR data and obtain the full 2D line-integrated electron density. The analysis method is first verified with synthetic data and then applied to experimental measurements of single and colliding plasma plumes collected at the OMEGA EP Laser Facility. The calculated densities agree with 1D results and are shown to be consistent with the original AFR measurements via forward modeling. We also discuss ways to improve the precision of this technique.

Source: Review of Scientific Instruments

DOI: 10.1063/5.0295850

Authors: B. McCluskey, J. Griff-McMahon, D. Haberberger, V. Valenzuela-Villaseca, H. Landsberger, W. Fox

Institutions: Princeton University, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Maryland, College Park

Language: English

Topic: Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics

Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: U.S. Department of Energy

Awards: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ''DYNAMICS OF MAGNETIC RECONNECTION IN HIGH-ENERGY-DENSITY PLASMAS'' *NEW AWARD, THE PERIOD OF THIS GRANT IS 10/01/2021 – 09/30/2024. THIS PROPOSAL WILL SUPPORT EXECUTION AND ANALYSIS OF RECENT AND AWARDED EXPERIMENTS AT OMEGA, OMEGA EP AND NIF. THESE SHOTS HAVE BEEN AWARDED THROUGH THE LLE ACADEMIC AND INDUSTRIAL BASIC SCIENCE PROGRAM (AIBS), DOE/FES LASERNETUS, AND NIF DISCOVERY SCIENCE, AND WILL BE CONDUCTED IN FY22 AND FY23.