Holographic Interferometry

on the ZaP Flow Z-Pinch

Stuart Lee Jackson
A thesis submitted in partial fulllment of
the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics
University of Washington
2003
Program Authorized to Oer Degree: Aeronautics & Astronautics
University of Washington
Graduate School
This is to certify that I have examined this copy of a masters thesis by
Stuart Lee Jackson
and have found that it is complete and satisfactory in all respects,
and that any and all revisions required by the nal
examining committee have been made.
Committee Members:
Uri Shumlak
Brian A. Nelson
Date:
In presenting this thesis in partial fulllment of the requirements for a Masters
degree at the University of Washington, I agree that the Library shall make its copies
freely available for inspection. I further agree that extensive copying of this thesis is
allowable only for scholarly purposes, consistent with fair use as prescribed in the
U.S. Copyright Law. Any other reproduction for any purpose or by any means shall
not be allowed without my written permission.
Signature
Date
University of Washington
Abstract
Holographic Interferometry
on the ZaP Flow Z-Pinch
by Stuart Lee Jackson
Chair of Supervisory Committee:
Associate Professor Uri Shumlak
Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics
The ZaP Flow Z-Pinch Experiment is a basic plasma physics experiment designed to
investigate the eects of a sheared axial velocity prole on the stability of a Z-pinch
plasma. A holographic interferometer is used to determine the density prole at the
midplane of the Z-pinch. Chord integrated density information is recorded during
a plasma pulse using the expanded beam of a pulsed ruby laser and holographic
techniques. The chord integrated measurement from this holographic interferogram
is inverted using an Abel inversion to determine the radial electron number density
prole of the plasma. Holographic interferograms are made at dierent times on
successive plasma pulses to study the evolution of the density prole with respect
to time. During the quiescent period of the Z-pinch, the density proles show an
approximately radially symmetric Z-pinch with an electron number density of about
1 10
17
cm
3
and a radius of 1 to 1.5 cm.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures iii
List of Tables vii
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Chapter 2: Overview of the ZaP Flow Z-Pinch Experiment 3
Chapter 3: Theory and Practice of Holographic Interferometry 8
3.1 Overview of Holographic Interferometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.2 Holography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3 Holographic Interferometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.4 Holographic Reconstruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 4: Pulsed Ruby Laser Operation 16
4.1 Characteristics and Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.2 Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Chapter 5: Holographic Methods on the ZaP Flow Z-Pinch 29
5.1 Recording the Interferogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.2 Developing the Interferogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.3 Reconstructing the Interferogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
i
Chapter 6: Density Prole Determination 38
6.1 Fringe Shift Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.2 Chord-Integrated Electron Density Determination . . . . . . . . . . . 46
6.3 Inversion Method for Determining the Radial Density Prole . . . . . 46
Chapter 7: Error Analysis 57
7.1 Path Length Errors due to Refraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
7.2 Errors due to Incorrect Center Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7.3 Random Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Chapter 8: Results of Density Prole Investigation 65
8.1 Results Obtained with the Double-Pass Holographic Interferometer . 65
8.2 Results Obtained with the Single-Pass Holographic Interferometer . . 70
Chapter 9: Summary and Conclusions 82
Bibliography 85
ii
LIST OF FIGURES
1.1 m = 0 sausage and m = 1 kink instabilities in a Z-pinch. . . . . . 2
2.1 ZaP Flow Z-Pinch experimental apparatus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Formation of a ZaP Flow Z-Pinch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3 Plasma current and normalized m=1 mode at the Z-pinch midplane,
with the quiescent period indicated (Pulse 204018). . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.4 Photos of Z-pinch emission showing quiescent period and growing in-
stability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.1 Interference of wavefronts of scene and reference beams forms a dirac-
tion pattern at the holographic plate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.2 Holographic interferograms of a candle ame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3 Phase shift measurement based on fringe shift in a nite-fringe holo-
graphic interferogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.1 Laser rail assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.2 Cooler and power supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.3 A ber optic cable is mounted on the laser rail behind the rear reector
and used to monitor the laser pulse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.4 Electrical schematic of the photodiode circuit used to monitor the laser
pulse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.5 Output of monitor circuit for a representative laser pulse. . . . . . . . 21
iii
4.6 Electrical schematic of the remote control panel used to control the
pulsed ruby laser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.7 Electrical schematic of the receiver box used to trigger the laser head
power supply and the Pockels cell shutter electronics. . . . . . . . . . 23
4.8 Flashlamp and ruby rod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.9 Before it is triggered, the Q-switch prevents laser light from reaching
the rear reector, spoiling the gain of the laser cavity. . . . . . . . . . 26
4.10 When triggered, the Q-switch allows light from the laser head to reach
the rear reector, completing the laser cavity and resulting in the emis-
sion of a high-intensity laser pulse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.1 Optical arrangement of the double-pass holographic interferometer. . 30
5.2 ZaP Flow Z-Pinch experimental apparatus with an inner electrode
nosecone and a conical hole in the end wall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.3 Optical arrangement of the single-pass holographic interferometer. . . 33
5.4 Process used to develop holographic plates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.5 Optical arrangement used to reconstruct and photograph the holo-
graphic interferograms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.1 Holographic interferograms with and without plasma present. . . . . 39
6.2 Conversion of the noisy periodic fringe pattern in a raw holographic
interferogram to a square fringe pattern (Pulse 21029011). . . . . . . 40
6.3 Locations of peaks and troughs are indicated with xs along a row of
the interferogram, plotted as a dashed line. The same row of the raw
interferogram is plotted as a solid line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
6.4 Bright and dark fringes plotted over the raw holographic interferogram. 43
iv
6.5 Fringe shift measurement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
6.6 Chord-integrated electron density (Pulse 31029011). . . . . . . . . . . 47
6.7 Shell model used to obtain the radial electron density prole from the
chord-integrated density using a discrete Abel inversion method. . . . 48
6.8 Graphical depiction of each coecient A
ki
as half the normalized path
length through a cylindrical shell of plasma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
6.9 Radial electron density prole (Pulse 31029011). . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
6.10 Performance of the inversion method when used on six simulated den-
sity proles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
7.1 Eect of incorrect center location on the performance of the inversion
method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
7.2 Performance of the inversion method when used on the r squared sim-
ulated density prole. Error bars are included for every other point to
indicate the eect of random errors on the radial density prole. . . . 63
7.3 Radial electron density prole with error bars plotted for every other
point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
8.1 Holographic interferograms made using the double-pass holographic
interferometer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
8.2 Chord-integrated density determined from the fringe shift in the holo-
graphic interferograms of Fig. 8.1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
8.3 Radial electron density proles resulting from inversion of the chord-
integrated electron density data of Fig. 8.2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
8.4 Normalized m = 1 mode, plasma current, and holography laser monitor
associated with the holographic interferograms of Fig. 8.1. . . . . . . 71
v
8.5 Radial electron density proles for hydrogen, 50% methane/50% hy-
drogen, and helium Z-pinches (Pulses 20910027, 21029011 and 30204007). 72
8.6 A holographic interferogram made using the single-pass holographic
interferometer (Pulse 30204010). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
8.7 The holographic interferogram of Fig. 8.6 with its bright fringes high-
lighted and numbered. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
8.8 Chord-integrated electron density obtained from fringes 5 through 9 in
Fig. 8.7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
8.9 Radial electron density proles for helium Z-pinches during formation
of the Z-pinch (Pulses 30205010, 30205014, and 30205018). . . . . . . 77
8.10 Normalized m = 1 mode, plasma current and chord-integrated electron
number density for the helium Z-pinches used to study the density
prole during formation (Fig. 8.9). The holography laser monitor shows
when each interferogram was made. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
8.11 Radial electron density proles for helium Z-pinches during and after
the quiescent period (Pulses 30204007, 30204019, 30204021). . . . . . 80
8.12 Normalized m = 1 mode, plasma current and chord-integrated electron
number density for the helium Z-pinches used to study the density pro-
le during and after the quiescent period (Fig. 8.11). The holography
laser monitor shows when each interferogram was made. . . . . . . . 81
vi
LIST OF TABLES
2.1 ZaP Flow Z-Pinch typical operating parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.1 Pulsed ruby laser characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.1 Holographic lm and plate characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to express sincere appreciation to Ed Crawford, Uri Shumlak,
Brian Nelson, Ray Golingo and the ZaP Team for their guidance and assistance in
this endeavor and to his family and friends for their understanding and support.
viii
1
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
One of the earliest and most basic magnetic connement concepts studied by fusion
scientists is the Z-pinch. A Z-pinch is a column of plasma with an axial current owing
through it that creates an azimuthal magnetic eld. The magnetic pressure from the
azimuthal eld connes and compresses the column, creating a hot, dense plasma.
Typically, a Z-pinch is made by connecting a wire of tungsten or frozen deuterium
between two electrodes. When a large potential is applied across the electrodes, the
wire vaporizes and then ionizes, forming the Z-pinch [4].
Unfortunately, a static Z-pinch formed in this manner is susceptible to two types of
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities. The m = 0 sausage mode occurs when
the plasma column begins to become thinner at any point along its length. Magnetic
pressure builds at this point, causing the column to become thinner still, until nally
it breaks and the plasma current is disrupted. The m = 1 kink instability occurs
when the plasma column begins to kink or bend. Magnetic pressure builds inside the
bend, pushing it farther out until the column is broken and the current is lost. Figure
1.1 shows the m = 0 sausage and m = 1 kink instabilities in a Z-pinch. These
MHD instabilities usually destroy the Z-pinch within tens of nanoseconds, limiting
its usefulness as a fusion reactor. Z-pinches are commonly used in experiments where
the production of a large amount of x-ray radiation is desired [4].
Several methods have been proposed to reduce the destructive eects of MHD
2
(a) (b)
Figure 1.1: m = 0 sausage and m = 1 kink instabilities in a Z-pinch. (a) m = 0
sausage mode. (b) m = 1 kink mode.
instabilities on the Z-pinch. One such method is sheared-ow stabilization. Numerical
simulations show that a linear velocity shear of v
z
/a > 0.1kV
A
inhibits the growth
of the m = 1 mode [14]. Similar behavior has been shown for the m = 0 mode.
This result is supported by sheared-ow stabilization experiments conducted on the
ZaP Flow Z-Pinch. These experiments have produced Z-pinch plasmas that exhibit
characteristics of stability for 700 times the theoretical instability growth time [12, 13].
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the density prole of a sheared-ow
Z-pinch plasma using holographic interferometry.
3
Chapter 2
OVERVIEW OF THE ZAP FLOW Z-PINCH
EXPERIMENT
The ZaP Flow Z-Pinch experiment at the University of Washington is a plasma
physics experiment designed to investigate the behavior of a sheared-ow Z-pinch.
The experimental apparatus, shown in Fig. 2.1, is composed of two coaxial, cylin-
drical electrodes enclosed in a vacuum chamber [3]. The outer electrode is a 150 cm
long, 20.5 cm inner diameter hollow copper cylinder with a copper end wall. The
inner electrode is a 100 cm long, 10 cm outer diameter hollow copper cylinder that
ends 50 cm before the outer electrode. The area between the electrodes before the
inner electrode ends is called the acceleration region. The space from the tip of the
inner electrode to the outer electrode end wall is referred to as the assembly region.
Hydrogen gas is pued in the acceleration region between the two electrodes at a
point about halfway down the length of the inner electrode. A potential dierence of
1 to 10 kV is applied across the two electrodes, causing the gas to ionize. Current is
carried between the two electrodes by the plasma, causing a magnetic eld to form
behind the plasma. The radial current and the azimuthal magnetic eld interact to
create a Lorentz force that accelerates the plasma axially down the electrodes towards
the assembly region.
One end of the forming Z-pinch attaches at the tip of the inner electrode as the
other end moves down the outer electrode and attaches to the end wall. The Lorentz
force is now directed radially inward towards the center of the plasma, conning and
4
Figure 2.1: ZaP Flow Z-Pinch experimental apparatus.
compressing the Z-pinch. This formation process results in a owing Z-pinch with
axial velocities of 10 cm/s [12, 13]. Figure 2.2 shows ZaP Flow Z-Pinch formation.
Formation of the owing Z-pinch is followed by a 10-20 s long quiescent period,
characterized by low magnetic mode activity. Figure 2.3 is a plot of the plasma current
and the normalized m=1 mode at the Z-pinch midplane. The quiescent period, dened
as where the magnitude of the normalized m=1 mode is less than 0.2, begins at 20
s and ends at 40 s for the plasma pulse shown. Photos of plasma emission also
indicate the existence of a quiescent Z-pinch plasma during this time. Figure 2.4 is a
series of images taken at the midplane of the Z-pinch at the times indicated during
the plasma pulse of Fig. 2.3. These images show a quiescent Z-pinch plasma and the
growth of an apparent instability towards the end of the quiescent period. Table 2.1
lists typical operating parameters for the ZaP Flow Z-Pinch.
5
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 2.2: Formation of a ZaP Flow Z-Pinch. (a) Hydrogen gas is pued between
the inner and outer electrodes. (b) The gas is ionized and accelerated by Lorentz
forces. (c) Current ows between the two electrodes as the Z-pinch begins to form.
(d) Flowing Z-pinch is formed.
6
Figure 2.3: Plasma current and normalized m=1 mode at the Z-pinch midplane, with
the quiescent period indicated (Pulse 204018).
Figure 2.4: Photos of Z-pinch emission showing quiescent period and growing insta-
bility. Photos were taken through a 500-600 nm bandpass lter (Pulse 204018).
7
Table 2.1: ZaP Flow Z-Pinch typical operating parameters.
parameter symbol value
ion velocity v
ion
10 cm/s
Alfven speed v
A
12 cm/s
quiescent period length
q
15 s
total temperature T
e
+ T
i
150 eV
electron number density n
e
10
17
cm
3
edge magnetic eld B
edge
1.8 T
Z-pinch radius a 1 cm
Z-pinch length L 50 cm
peak current I
p max
250 kA
peak power P
p max
1.5 GW
capacitor charge voltage V
mb
9 kV
8
Chapter 3
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF HOLOGRAPHIC
INTERFEROMETRY
3.1 Overview of Holographic Interferometry
Holographic interferometry is a measurement technique that has been used by engi-
neers and scientists since the 1960s. Applications include recording the vibration or
deformation of opaque objects or measuring the density of suciently dense, trans-
parent uids or plasmas. When applied to plasmas, holographic interferometry works
based on the same principles as traditional Mach-Zehnder interferometry, but pro-
vides a two-dimensional picture of the chord-integrated plasma density, instead of
recording the density information along only one chord.
3.2 Holography
A hologram is a record of the interaction of two beams of light, in the form of a
microscopic pattern of interference fringes [11]. Usually one of the beams has bounced
o of or passed through some object of interest and the other is a reference beam used
to record the state of the rst. The dierence between a photograph and a hologram is
that a photograph contains only information about the intensity of the incident light,
while a hologram retains information about the incident wavefronts intensity and
phase. When properly illuminated, a hologram can be used to reproduce the original
wavefront from the object. This reconstructed wavefront produces an image that
9
can be viewed with full parallaxwhen the viewpoint is changed, a dierent portion
of the reconstructed wavefront is intercepted by the viewer and the image appears
three-dimensional. A photograph appears at because the intercepted wavefront is
the same at dierent viewpoints. It is important that the recorded hologram and the
image not be contaminated by information from the light source. Laser light is most
often used because its coherence and monochromicity mean that it consists of planar
wavefronts that contain no information.
Leith-Upatnieks o-axis holography is generally used when making plasma density
measurements using holographic interferometry [9]. To make the holographic expo-
sure, the laser beam is expanded to the desired diameter and split into two parts,
the reference beam and the object or scene beam. The reference beam does not pass
through the plasma; instead it bounces o several mirrors and then is incident upon
the holographic plate. The scene beam travels the same path length as the reference
beam, but passes through the plasma before hitting the plate.
Interaction between the laser light and the plasma electrons causes a phase shift in
the scene beam with respect to the reference beam that is proportional to the integral
of the refractive index along the path of the laser light:
=
2

_
(n n
0
) dl, (3.1)
where is the phase shift in radians, = is the wavelength of the laser light, n is
the refractive index of the plasma, and n
0
is the refractive index of the background
medium [16]. The background medium is usually air or vacuum, so that n
0
is ap-
proximately equal to one. For a plasma where the magnetic eld is negligible, the
refractive index is related to the electron number density by
n =
_
1
n
e
n
c
_
1/2
, (3.2)
where n
e
is the plasma electron number density and n
c
is the plasma cuto density
10
Scene Beam
R
e
fe
re
n
c
e
B
e
a
m
Holographic Plate
Bright
Fringes
Dark
Fringes
Figure 3.1: Interference of wavefronts of scene and reference beams forms a diraction
pattern at the holographic plate.
above which the laser light will not propagate. Equations 3.1 and 3.2 are combined
to yield the phase shift in terms of the integral of the electron number density along
the path of the laser light,
=
2

_ __
1
n
e
n
c
_
1/2
1
_
dl. (3.3)
This phase dierence manifests itself as a microscopic diraction pattern on the
holographic plate where the two beams come together at an angle. This diraction
pattern consists of a series of bright and dark fringes produced by constructive and
destructive interference between the wavefronts, as shown in Fig. 3.1. The width of
the fringes is aected by the phase shift in the scene beam. In this manner, density
information is recorded on the holographic plate in two dimensions. After developing,
the hologram can be illuminated again by the reference beam to reconstruct the
wavefront of the scene beam that passed through the plasma [16].
In reality, a single holographic exposure records phase dierences due to windows
and path length dierences along with the phase shift due to the plasma density,
11
making the density information dicult or impossible to recover. The techniques of
holographic interferometry are used to eliminate these unwanted eects and isolate
the phase shift due to the plasma density.
3.3 Holographic Interferometry
In holographic interferometry, two holographic exposures are made. The rst is made
before the plasma pulse, with no plasma present in the vacuum chamber, to serve as
a baseline for the second. The second exposure is made during the plasma pulse, with
plasma present in the chamber. Both exposures are made on the same holographic
plate. It is the interference pattern due to the reconstructed wavefronts of these two
holograms that forms the holographic interferogram.
Density information could be recorded using only the second exposure, but the
system used has two advantages over a single exposure. The diraction pattern made
during the rst exposure takes into account phase shifts due to imperfect windows,
path length dierences, and other experimental irregularities. The second exposure
has these same irregularities, plus the phase shift due to the plasma, so that the only
dierence recorded between the two exposures is due to the presence of the plasma
[6]. The path length dierence must still be less than the coherence length of the
laser to reliably record a fringe pattern.
The second advantage is the introduction of reference fringes. Figure 3.2 shows
a photograph of a candle ame and a series of interferograms of that candle ame.
Without reference fringes, the interferogram is a series of horizontal fringes of varying
widths, as shown in Fig. 3.2(b). The spacing between successive fringes indicates that
there is a dierence in refractive index between the two locations, but not the sign
of the refractive index gradient. It is impossible to determine from the interferogram
alone whether the refractive index increases or decreases between adjacent fringes
12
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 3.2: Holographic interferograms of a candle ame. (a) Photograph of the
candle ame used to make the holographic interferograms in Figs. (b)(d). (b) Innite
fringe holographic interferogram. (c) Finite fringe holographic interferogram. Axis of
mirror tilt is vertical. (d) Finite fringe holographic interferogram. Axis of mirror tilt
is horizontal.
13
[16]. This type of interferogram is called an innite-fringe interferogram because the
width of the fringes depends on the refractive index gradient.
In a nite-fringe interferogram, xed-width reference fringes are introduced to
eliminate the sign ambiguity. This is accomplished by tilting a mirror in the reference
beam slightly between exposures, producing vertical or horizontal wedge fringes, as
shown in Fig. 3.2(c) and Fig. 3.2(d). The displacement of the wedge from the straight
part of each fringe indicates the phase shift of the laser light due to the presence of
the candle ame. The width of the fringes can be adjusted as desired by increasing
or decreasing the mirror tilt, and the axis of the tilt should be parallel to the density
gradient of interest [6].
In the case of a plasma interferogram, the phase shift is due to the electrons in the
plasma. As shown in Fig. 3.3, a displacement of half a fringe width corresponds to a
phase shift of , while a whole fringe width corresponds a phase shift of 2. Fringe
width refers to the distance between consecutive bright or dark fringes. The phase
shift is often expressed in terms of the fringe order, the displacement of the fringe
normalized by the fringe width. The fringe order, f, is related to the phase shift by
f =

2
, (3.4)
so a fringe order of one corresponds to displacement of one fringe width and a phase
shift of 2.
3.4 Holographic Reconstruction
After the holographic interferogram is exposed and developed, it can be illuminated
again by the reference beam in order to reconstruct the original scene and reference
wavefronts. In practice, a HeNe laser is usually used to mimic the original reference
beam for convenience. The reconstructed scene beam wavefronts of the two holo-
graphic exposures produce an interference pattern that can be recorded on ordinary
14
Figure 3.3: Phase shift measurement based on fringe shift in a nite-fringe holographic
interferogram
15
photographic lm. As described in Sec. 3.3, the phase shift is determined by measur-
ing the shift of the fringes in the interference pattern. The relationship in Eq. 3.3 is
then used to nd the chord-integrated electron density based on this phase shift.
16
Chapter 4
PULSED RUBY LASER OPERATION
4.1 Characteristics and Setup
The laser used to make the interferograms is a pulsed ruby laser with a pulse width
of approximately 50 ns and a wavelength of 6943

A. Characteristics of the ruby laser
are listed in Table 4.1.
Figure 4.1 shows components of the laser rail assembly and Fig. 4.2 shows the
power supply. A ber optic cable is mounted as shown in Fig. 4.3 on the laser rail
behind the rear reector and linked to a photodiode circuit to monitor the laser pulse.
With the double-pass system described in Sec. 5.1.1, the ber optic cable is mounted
in the same manner behind the frosted back of the rst mirror in the reference beam.
Figure 4.4 is a schematic of the photodiode circuit used to monitor the laser pulse.
Figure 4.5 shows the output of the monitor circuit for a representative laser pulse,
showing a full width at half max (FWHM) of roughly 50 ns. The response time of
the detector is unknown, and it is possible that the laser pulse width is less than 50
ns.
4.2 Operation
The laser is controlled by the operator outside the laboratory using a remote control
panel. A schematic is shown in Fig. 4.6. When the charge button is pressed, it lights
up and the 5 kV laser head power supply is charged to the voltage set by the dial on
17
Table 4.1: Pulsed ruby laser characteristics
characteristic type/value
laser head Korad K-1 Ruby Laser Head
power supply Korad K-1 Power Supply (5 kV)
cooler Korad KWC Laser Cooler
Q-switch Korad K-QS2 Pockels Cell
Q-Switch Assembly
shutter Korad K-QS2 Pockels Cell
Shutter Electronics
wavelength 6943

A
specied pulse width < 15 ns
operating pulse width 50 ns
specied pulse energy 1.1 J
operating pulse energy 600 mJ
polarization horizontal
18
Q-switch
laser pointer
for alignment
rear reflector iris
laser head
etalon
beam expander
Figure 4.1: Laser rail assembly
the front of the power supply. The voltage used for most holograms is 3.6 kV, slightly
above the measured lasing threshold of 3.5 kV. It should be noted that the voltage
indicator gauge on the front of the laser power supply is not correctly calibrated, so
that it reads 4.2 kV when the power supply voltage is actually 3.67 kV, as measured
by a multimeter. When the power supply reaches the set voltage, the charge light
turns o and the re button lights. The laser can be red manually using the re
button if the re cable is connected from the back of the remote control panel
to the back of the power supply and the delay dial on the front of the laser is set
to internal. However, the laser is usually red through the ZaP data acquisition
system.
Two channels of a Data Design Corporation DG11 Digital Delay Generator module
are set 920.2 s apart, with the second channel set 0.88 s before the desired laser ring
time. When the operator triggers the experiment, the rst DG11 channel triggers a
19
Figure 4.2: Cooler and power supply
20
Q-switch
rear reflector
and mount
fiber optic cable
and mount
index card
(protects alignment
laser pointer)
alignment laser
pointer mount
Figure 4.3: A ber optic cable is mounted on the laser rail behind the rear reector
and used to monitor the laser pulse.
21
Figure 4.4: Electrical schematic of the photodiode circuit used to monitor the laser
pulse.
Figure 4.5: Output of monitor circuit for a representative laser pulse.
22
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23
Figure 4.7: Electrical schematic of the receiver box used to trigger the laser head
power supply and the Pockels cell shutter electronics.
light emitting diode (LED) that sends a light pulse through a ber optic cable to a
receiver box in the lab, visible in Fig. 4.2. A photodiode in the receiver box detects
the light pulse, and the receiver box sends a 45 V trigger signal to the laser power
supply. A schematic of the receiver box is shown in Fig. 4.7. The Pockels cell shutter
electronics module is triggered by the second DG11 channel and a second receiver box
in a similar manner. The 920.2 s delay time was set based on the internal delay time
used during initial testing, although other delay times were not investigated. The 0.88
s delay time between the second trigger and the actual laser pulse was set using an
ICCD spectrometer. To determine this delay time, the spectrometer was set to record
data at the desired laser ring time over a wavelength range that included the ruby
laser wavelength. The trigger time of the second DG11 module was stepped earlier
in small increments from the desired laser ring time until laser light was observed in
the ICCD spectrum.
Inside the housing of the K-1 laser head shown in Fig. 4.1 is a 3/8 in diameter
synthetic ruby rod, surrounded by a spiral ashlamp. The ruby rod and ashlamp
24
Figure 4.8: Flashlamp and ruby rod.
are shown in Fig. 4.8. When the laser power supply is triggered, the energy in its
capacitor bank is discharged through the ashlamp by means of a transformer. The
xenon gas in the ashlamp becomes hot and begins to radiate. Green and blue light
from the ashlamp is absorbed by the ruby rod, exciting the chromium ions in the
ruby and causing a population inversion. This population inversion causes the rod to
have a positive gain at the ruby laser wavelength, 6943

A. The rear reector, laser
head, and etalon shown in Fig. 4.1 form the laser cavity. Light from the laser head
bounces between the rear reector and the etalon, passing multiple times through the
ruby rod. Because the total gain from multiple passes through the laser rod is greater
than one, the amount of power in the laser cavity grows until the lasing threshold is
25
reached and a laser pulse is emitted.
A Q-switch is included in the laser cavity to spoil the cavity gain and prevent
the lasing threshold from being reached. Until it is triggered, it prevents light from
reaching the rear reector and being reected back to the laser rod. This allows energy
to accumulate in the ruby rod over time. When the Q-switch is nally triggered,
completing the laser cavity, the cavity gain is much higher than it otherwise would
be because of the increased energy in the laser rod. A high-intensity laser pulse is
emitted, draining the energy in the laser rod. Without the Q-switch, a series of low-
intensity pulses would be emitted as the cavity repeatedly reached the lasing threshold
[7].
Figure 4.9 shows the Q-switch assembly with its cover removed, mounted on the
laser rail between the laser head and the rear reector. It consists of a Pockels
crystal and a polarizer stack. Before the Q-switch is triggered, horizontally polarized
light from the ruby rod is incident upon the Pockels crystal and passes through
with its polarization direction unchanged. The polarizer stack, which passes only
vertically polarized light, prevents the horizontally polarized light from reaching the
rear reector.
When the Q-switch is triggered, a bias voltage is applied to the Pockels crystal
by the Pockels cell shutter electronics. The phase of the electric eld vector of the
horizontally polarized light is retarded 90 deg by the energized crystal, changing it
to vertically polarized light, as shown in Fig. 4.10. The polarizer stack passes the
vertically polarized light, allowing it to reect o of the rear reector and pass back
through the polarizer. The polarization direction of the light is once again transformed
as it passess through the Pockels crystal, and the resulting horizontally polarized light
returns to the ruby rod [8].
In addition to the Q-switch, an adjustable iris is also included in the laser cavity,
26
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27
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28
between the Q-switch and the laser head. The iris is used to clean up the edges of
the laser beam and to eliminate transverse modes. It can also be used to control the
beam diameter. Use of the iris reduces the output energy of the laser from 720 mJ
to 460 mJ when the laser power supply is charged to 3.5 kV. For most holograms,
an iris diameter of 4 mm and a power supply charge of 3.6 kV was used, yielding an
output energy of 600 mJ.
The etalon serves as one end of the laser cavity, reecting light back to the laser
head while improving the monochromicity of the laser. Light emitted from the ruby
rod has a certain width in frequency space about the frequency associated with the
ideal wavelength. The laser cavity, however, acts to select certain resonant frequencies
from among those emitted by the ruby rod. These resonant frequencies have an
integral number of half-wavelengths across the laser cavity. The etalon, a small piece
of glass with two parallel faces, resonates at frequencies more widely spaced than
those of the laser cavity, and acts to further reduce the frequency spread of the laser.
The combined eects of the ruby rod, laser cavity, and etalon produce laser light that
is extremely monochromatic, and the laser pulse is said to be single-mode [10].
The nal component on the output end of the laser rail is a beam expander, used
to expand the diameter of the beam from 4 mm to roughly 5 cm. On the far end of
the rail, a laser pointer is mounted behind the rear reector and the ber optic cable
described in Sec. 4.1. This laser pointer, with an output less than 5 mW, is used for
beam alignment. The ber optic cable and the index card must be removed during
alignment. During ruby laser operation, however, either the ber or the card must
be placed in front of the laser pointer, as shown in Fig. 4.3, to prevent it from being
damaged by the ruby beam.
29
Chapter 5
HOLOGRAPHIC METHODS ON THE ZAP FLOW
Z-PINCH
5.1 Recording the Interferogram
Holographic interferograms are made using two dierent experimental arrangements.
In both cases, the vacuum tank window that serves as the holography port is located
at the center of the 50 cm long assembly region. It is aligned with a 5 cm diameter
hole in the outer electrode that allows the ruby laser pulse to pass through the plasma
and out an identical hole and port on the opposite side of the chamber. The location
of the port allows the experimenter to make density measurements at the midplane
of the Z-pinch.
5.1.1 Double-Pass Recording
A double-pass holographic interferometer is used to measure the density of plasmas
made with the experimental conguration shown in Fig. 2.1. The optical arrangement
is shown in Fig. 5.1.
The laser pulse is expanded to a 5 cm diameter beam that is split by a 50%
beamsplitter into the scene and reference beams. The scene beam passes through
the plasma, hits a mirror on the opposite side of the vacuum tank, and then passes
through the plasma a second time before hitting the holographic lm or plate. This
double-pass system doubles the lasers path length through the plasma, resulting in
30
ZaP Vacuum Vessel
Holographic Plate
Ruby Laser
Z-pinch Plasma
Scene Beam Reference Beam
6943A
NotchFilter
Tilting
Mirror
Figure 5.1: Optical arrangement of the double-pass holographic interferometer.
31
a larger and more easily-measured fringe shift.
Several mirrors are used along the path of the reference beam to increase its path
length to equal that of the scene beam. The last mirror in the reference path is the
tilting mirror used to make the vertical wedge reference fringes in the interferogram.
Its axis of tilt is out of the page in Fig. 5.1. The mirror is tilted by passing a current
through a wire attached to one side of the back of its mount. The other side of the
back of the mount is attached at two points, dening the axis of tilt. When the wire
is heated by the current, it expands, slightly tilting the mirror. The current can be
adjusted to control the amount of tilt and, as a result, the width of the fringes in the
interferogram. In practice, a current of about 0.32 A was used.
It is important to mention that after its second pass through the vacuum tank, the
scene beam is split a second time by the beamsplitter. Half of the beams intensity is
transmitted by the beamsplitter and continues on its way to the holographic lm, and
the other half is reected towards the laser. To prevent the beam from reecting back
into the laser cavity, the mirror on the opposite side of the vacuum tank is aligned
so that the laser beam hits the beamsplitter in a slightly dierent place on its second
pass.
This intentional misalignment introduces only a small dierence in the path of the
scene beam on its rst and second passes through the plasma. It introduces a more
noticeable dierence in the paths of the beam through the beamsplitter, causing part
of the beam to be cut o. The area of interferograms made with the misaligned scene
beam is therefore smaller than it would be if the beam could pass through the center
of the beamsplitter on both passes. For this reason, an eort was made to minimize
the misalignment of the beam. A better solution would have been to use a larger
beamsplitter, because on at least one occasion the scene beam was not intentionally
misaligned enough, and the ruby laser rod was damaged.
32
Figure 5.2: ZaP Flow Z-Pinch experimental apparatus with an inner electrode
nosecone and a conical hole in the end wall.
5.1.2 Single-Pass Recording
A single-pass holographic interferometer is used with the experimental conguration
shown in Fig. 5.2. A nosecone is added at the end of the inner electrode and the solid
end wall of Fig. 2.1 is replaced with an end wall with a conical hole in its center.
Nine gas pu valves are used to inject gas into the area between the electrodes,
instead of three. The single-pass optical arrangement is shown in Fig. 5.3. After the
beam expander, the laser beam is shot upward and then toward the vacuum tank
before it hits the beamsplitter. The scene beam travels down to a mirror next to the
holography port and then passes through the machine. On the far side of the vacuum
tank, a 305 mm focal length lens is used to image the plasma onto the holographic
lm or plate, with a 1:2 image-to-object magnication ratio. The reference beam
passes over the vacuum tank and two mirrors are used to direct it through a 305 mm
focal length lens and onto the holographic lm or plate. The tilting mirror is tilted
about a vertical axis in Fig. 5.3. The purpose of the lenses is two-fold. First, in the
scene beam, imaging the plasma onto the lm or plate improves the quality of the
33
Figure 5.3: Optical arrangement of the single-pass holographic interferometer.
interferogram and reduces the eect of dirty or imperfect vacuum tank windows [6].
Second, in both beams, the 1:2 magnication decreases the size of the interferogram.
This demagnication allows the interferogram to t on the narrower holographic lm
and increases the power per unit area that hits the lm, which is less sensitive than
the plates to the ruby laser wavelength. A 35 mm camera body with a shutter is used
with the 35 mm holographic lm, simplifying the data collection process and allowing
interferograms to be made at a faster rate than with plates.
5.2 Developing the Interferogram
After the interferogram is recorded, the holographic plate or lm is developed using
darkroom techniques. AGFA-Gavaert 8e75 or 10e75 plates are used, the specications
of which are shown in Table 5.1 [6, 15]. They are made of clear glass covered on one
side by a thin emulsion of minute silver halide crystals in gelatin. Tiny patches of silver
form on the crystals when they are exposed to light. The steps in the development
process are shown in Fig. 5.4. The plates are soaked for ve minutes in the dark
34
Table 5.1: Holographic lm and plate characteristics.
manufacturer AGFA-Gevaert Slavich
type Holotest 10E75 & 8E75 PFG-01
exposure 40300 10
7
J/cm
2
10
2
J/cm
2
(at = 6943

A)
resolution 28003000 lines/mm 3000 lines/mm
plate/lm 4x5 in plate (other sizes
exist)
specially-ordered 35 mm
lm
notes production ceased in late
1990s
plates and other sizes
available
Developing Holographic Plates
In the Dark:
Lights on, if desired:
4. Rinse five minutes with running water in a tray in the sink.
5. Bleach with Chromium Intensifier until exposed portion of plate is almost transparent
6. Rinse 10 minutes with running water in a tray in the sink
7. Pour used bleach into a bottle and label for disposal. DO NOT DUMP IN SINK.
1
5 minutes in
Developer D-19
Solution
2
10 seconds in Kodak
Indicator Stop Bath
Solution (X-Ray
Indicator)
3
5 minutes in
Kodak Rapid
Fixer Solution
Figure 5.4: Process used to develop holographic plates. The process used for lm is
identical, except the lm is soaked in the developer for ten minutes.
35
in Kodak developer D-19 to complete the conversion of the exposed silver halide
crystals to metallic silver. Ten seconds in an x-ray indicator stop bath solution ends
this conversion process. Five minutes in a rapid xer solution removes the unexposed
silver halide crystals [2]. After xing, the lights are turned on and the plates are rinsed
in running water for ve minutes. This process produces an amplitude interferogram
that can be reconstructed and viewed as described in Sec. 5.3. The intensity of
ruby laser light absorbed by the plate is not important to the density analysis, so
the diraction eciency of the plate can be improved by bleaching it, allowing more
light to pass through during reconstruction. A 10:1 or stronger dilution of potassium
dichromate with water is used to bleach the plate, transforming the metallic silver
in the plate to transparent silver salt. This procedure transforms the amplitude
interferogram into a phase interferogram. The phase information is preserved in the
silver salt, whose index of refraction diers from that of the gelatin covering the rest
of the plate [16]. The plate is rinsed for ten minutes in running water and allowed to
air dry. The bleaching process can be repeated as needed as the plates darken over
time due to exposure to light.
Specially-ordered 35 mm PFG-01 holographic lm is also used, since production
of AGFA plates ceased in the late 1990s. Specications are shown in Table 5.1.
Processing of the lm is the same, except that it requires ten minutes in the developer
solution instead of ve. A lm can is used during development so that all of the
processing steps can be done under normal lighting conditions. Despite its lower
sensitivity, lm is more convenient and cheaper than plates.
Whether a plate or lm is used, the holographic recording medium must be able
to resolve the spatial frequency of the fringe pattern, given by
f
fr
=
sin

, (5.1)
where is the angle between the scene and reference beams and is the wavelength
36
of the laser light [16]. For both the double-pass and the single-pass holographic
interferometer, is 15 deg and is 6.943 10
4
mm, so the fringe pattern in each
hologram has a spatial frequency of 372 lines/mm. This provides a course resolution
limit. From Table 5.1, the resolution of the plates and lm used is much ner than
the spatial frequency of the fringe pattern, a requirement for high-quality holograms
and interferograms.
5.3 Reconstructing the Interferogram
The developed and bleached holographic plate looks very much like a clear pane of
glass with a slightly darkened spot where it was struck by the laser pulse. To view
and photograph the interferogram, the plate must be illuminated by the same type
of light used during exposure (see Sec. 3.4)parallel wavefront, 6943

A laser light.
For convenience, a helium-neon (HeNe) laser with a wavelength close to the ruby
laser wavelength is used to mimic the original reference beam. When this beam
strikes the holographic plate, it is diracted by the two holograms on the plate to
create a wavefront that reects the phase dierences between the two exposures, one
with plasma and one without. The interference pattern created by this wavefront is
recorded on photographic lm.
The optical arrangement used to reconstruct and photograph the holographic in-
terferograms is shown in Fig. 5.5. A microscope objective and a lens function as
a beam expander to expand the reconstruction beam to the roughly 2.5 cm diam-
eter required to illuminate the interferogram. An aperture is included in the beam
expander to select the cleanest part of the beam. The expanded beam then passes
through a 305 mm focal length lens, identical to the lens used in making the inter-
ferogram. This lens is removed when reconstructing interferograms made with the
double-pass system of Sec. 5.1.1, which does not include the lens. The reconstruction
37
Figure 5.5: Optical arrangement used to reconstruct and photograph the holographic
interferograms.
beam hits the holographic plate, or holographic lm mounted on a glass plate, at
approximately the same angle as the original reference beam, roughly 15 deg. This
angle is chosen so that the reconstructed object beam propagates perpendicular to the
plate. It is slightly dierent than the angle of the original reference beam due to the
dierence in wavelength. The reconstruction beam is diracted by the holographic
plate to reconstruct the recorded fringe pattern, and this reconstructed object beam
passes through a series of lenses and into the camera body. Inside the camera body,
the reconstructed object beam passes through a shutter, which is used to adjust the
exposure time of the photographic lm according to the diraction eciency of the
interferogram. An adjustable iris is used to clean up the interferogram by reducing
stray light and removing non-parallel rays from the beam. The reconstructed object
beam is then incident upon the lm at the back of the camera. The resulting fringe
pattern is recorded on the black and white lm, either Polariod Polapan 667, ISO
3200 or Polaroid Polapan 665, positive/negative, ISO 80 lm.
38
Chapter 6
DENSITY PROFILE DETERMINATION
6.1 Fringe Shift Measurement
Once the holographic interferogram has been made, developed, reconstructed, and
photographed, the photograph of the interferogram is scanned and stored in a grayscale
Tagged Image Format (TIF) le. A resolution of 300 pixels per inch is typically used,
but a higher resolution could be used to reduce pixel eects. Figure 6.1(a) is a photo-
graph of a nite fringe holographic interferogram (see Sec. 3.3) where no plasma was
present during either of the two holographic exposures. The dark horizontal lines in
the interferogram are from reference wires attached to the port on the far side of the
vacuum tank from the laser. They are half a centimeter above and below the center
of the vacuum tank, respectively, and serve as a reference for determining the size
and location of the Z-pinch. The straight reference fringes are a product of tilting the
mirror slightly between exposures, and indicate zero plasma density.
Figure 6.1(b) is a photograph of a holographic interferogram where the second
holographic exposure was made during a ZaP plasma pulse. The presence of the
plasma has caused a measurable shift of the fringes in the interferogram, resulting in
the characteristic wedge shape. The amount by which the curved part of each fringe
is shifted with respect to the straight part is an indication of the relative phase shift
of the ruby laser light due to the plasma density. Several Interactive Data Language
(IDL) programs are used to measure the fringe shift in the interferogram and, from
that, to determine the phase shift.
39
(a) (b)
Figure 6.1: Holographic interferograms with and without plasma present. (a) No
plasma present. (b) Z-pinch plasma (Pulse 21029011).
Image editing software such as Microsoft Photo Editor or Adobe Photoshop is used
to edit the scanned interferogram. The image is cropped, and all white space outside
the area of the interferogram is lled or removed. If necessary, the interferogram is
rotated so that the reference wires are horizontal.
The computer program analyze interferogram.pro, written in the IDL program-
ming language, is used to isolate and store the fringes in the hologram as IDL vari-
ables. Other relevant quantities, such as the locations of the reference wires and the
number of bright and dark fringes in the hologram, are also stored.
When analyze interferogram.pro is compiled in an IDL session and executed, the
user is prompted to select the TIF image le of the interferogram. When selected, the
image le is opened, its contents are read into an array, and this raw hologram array
is cropped in IDL to a rectangular box that encloses the fringe pattern. The raw
hologram array is smoothed twice, using three and ve-pixel-square windows. The
noisy periodic fringe pattern is converted to a square fringe pattern by maximizing
or minimizing the brightness of points in the fringes, as shown in Figure 6.2. Points
whose brightness is at or above a certain fraction of the brightness of the brightest
40
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 6.2: Conversion of the noisy periodic fringe pattern in a raw holographic
interferogram to a square fringe pattern (Pulse 21029011). (a) Raw holographic in-
terferogram. (b) Holographic interferogram converted to square fringe pattern. (c) A
row of the raw holographic interferogram, showing the noisy periodic fringe pattern.
(d) The same row of the converted holographic interferogram, showing the square
fringe pattern.
41
Figure 6.3: Locations of peaks and troughs are indicated with xs along a row of
the interferogram, plotted as a dashed line. The same row of the raw interferogram
is plotted as a solid line.
point are maximized, and the rest are minimized. This fraction is typically greater
(0.95) in the center than in the rest of the interferogram (0.75) because the diraction
eciency of the interferogram and brightness of the reconstruction beam are greatest
there. This conversion process reduces the eects of high-frequency noise and irreg-
ularities in the interferogram, and allows a simple peak-nding algorithm to be used
in the row-by-row analysis to follow. The method of converting the noisy periodic
fringe pattern to a square fringe pattern could be improved by using a variable bright-
ness fraction. A brightness fraction that adjusts to maintain a constant fringe width
along the length of a fringe might further reduce the eects of irregularities in the
interferogram.
A row-by-row analysis of the interferogram is performed to locate the center of
each square bright or dark fringe. The left and right edges of bright fringes are placed
where the dierence in brightness between consecutive pixels changes from positive
42
to zero and from zero to negative. The peaks in each row are chosen as the pixels
halfway between these two points for each bright fringe. The magnitude of the peaks
is set to a xed value. The left and right edges of dark fringes are placed where
the dierence in brightness between consecutive pixels changes from negative to zero
and from zero to positive. The troughs are chosen as the pixels halfway between
these pixels, and their magnitude is set to a second xed value. Figure 6.3 shows a
row of the interferogram, plotted as a dashed line, with xs indicating the peaks
and troughs. The corresponding row of the raw interferogram is also plotted as a
solid line in the gure. The peaks and troughs in each row are collected along with
the closest peaks and troughs in the other rows and assigned to fringes. Peaks and
troughs that are more than a certain fraction (usually one-fth) of a fringe-width
from the corresponding valid peaks and troughs in the previous row are thrown out
as erroneous outliers. This results in a set of data points corresponding to each bright
or dark fringe. Each fringe is smoothed using a seventeen-pixel-wide window to reduce
the eects of localized irregularities. The bright fringes formed from the peaks in each
row are plotted over the raw interferogram in Fig. 6.4(a). Figure 6.4(b) shows the
dark fringes formed from the troughs. To facilitate measurement of the fringe shift, a
straight line is t to each fringe, as shown in Fig. 6.4. This straight line connects the
mean of the ten farthest left points in the lower half of the fringe to the mean of the
ten farthest left points in the upper half of the fringe. The bright and dark fringes,
straight lines, and other relevant quantities are stored in a data le as IDL variables.
A second IDL program, invert interferogram.pro, is used to measure the shift
of a selected fringe, calculate the chord-integrated electron density based on that
shift, and invert the chord-integrated density to determine the radial electron density
prole. The rst few lines of the program contain parameters that can be edited
by the user, such as whether to invert a peak or a trough, which peak or trough to
43
(a)
(b)
Figure 6.4: Bright and dark fringes plotted over the raw holographic interferogram.
(a) Bright fringes formed from the peaks in each row. (b) Dark fringes formed from
the troughs in each row.
44
invert, how many inversions should be attempted in iterating for the center, and how
far to shift the top and bottom of the straight line. When invert interferogram.pro
is compiled and run in an IDL window, the user is prompted to open the data le
produced by analyze interferogram.pro, restoring the bright and dark fringes and other
related variables. Figure 6.5(a) shows a selected fringe and the associated straight
line plotted on top of the raw holographic interferogram. The top or bottom of the
straight line can be shifted left or right by the user, to force the pixel shift to be
zero at the edges. Figure 6.5(b) shows a selected fringe and the shifted straight
line. The resolution used to scan the image (300 pixels per inch) is apparent from
the fringe. The dotted lines in Figs. 6.5(a)-6.5(b) mark the centroid of the fringe
and the points where the fringe and the straight line intersect. Points outside the
intersection of the fringe and the straight line are discarded, reducing the eects of
aberrations at the edge of the holographic interferogram. The shift of the selected
fringe from the corresponding straight line is measured in pixels and smoothed twice,
with nineteen and twenty-nine-pixel-wide windows. The double-pass interferograms
were smoothed only once with a seven-pixel-wide window. The number of points
used in each smoothing window was determined empirically so that irregularities
are reduced, but the overall characteristics of the fringe shift are maintained. The
smoothed pixel shift is plotted in Fig. 6.5(c). The dotted line represents the centroid
of the pixel shift. The pixel shift is converted to the fringe order (see Sec. 3.3)
by dividing the shift in pixels by the average fringe width in pixels. This average
fringe width is the mean of the distances between the straight lines corresponding to
consecutive bright or dark fringes. The fringe order is plotted in Fig. 6.5(d) versus the
impact parameter, in centimeters. The impact parameter of the fringes is converted
from pixels to centimeters using the 1 cm distance between the reference wires as a
conversion factor. Negative values of the impact parameter are assigned to points
45
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 6.5: Fringe shift measurement. (a) A selected bright fringe, associated straight
line, and raw holographic interferogram. Dotted lines mark the centroid and edges
of the fringe shift. (b) A selected bright fringe and shifted straight line. Dotted lines
mark the centroid and edges of the fringe shift. (c) Smoothed pixel shift. A dotted
line marks the centroid of the pixel shift. (d) Fringe order vs. impact parameter in
centimeters. A negative value of the impact parameter is assigned to points below
the centroid of the fringe order.
46
below the centroid of the fringe shift.
6.2 Chord-Integrated Electron Density Determination
The chord-integrated electron number density is calculated in invert interferogram.pro
from the fringe order using the relation
f =

2
=
1
2n
c
_
n
e
dl, (6.1)
where f is the fringe order, is the phase shift, n
e
is the electron density, n
c
is the
plasma cuto density and is the ruby laser wavelength. This equation is obtained
from Eq. 3.3 by assuming the refractive index (Eq. 3.2) is nearly one and can be
approximated by
n 1
1
2
_
n
e
n
c
_
. (6.2)
Equation 6.1 simplies to
N
e
=
_
n
e
dl = 3.212 10
17
f [cm
2
], (6.3)
where N
e
is the chord-integrated electron number density in cm
2
[5]. Figure 6.6
shows the chord-integrated electron number density versus the impact parameter.
The impact parameter equals zero at the centroid of the chord-integrated density.
6.3 Inversion Method for Determining the Radial Density Prole
6.3.1 Abel Inversion
The chord-integrated electron number density is inverted in invert interferogram.pro
using a discrete Abel inversion method to yield the radial electron density prole.
The plasma is assumed to be radially symmetric, so that the chord-integrated
number density at a given impact parameter is given by the Abel transform equation
N
e
(y) = 2
_

y
n
e
(r) rdr
(y
2
r
2
)
1/2
, (6.4)
47
Figure 6.6: Chord-integrated electron density (Pulse 31029011).
48
y
r
n
e0
n
e1
n
eI-1
n
eI-2
n
ei+1
n
ei-1
n
ei
r
I-1
r
I
r
I-2
r
i
r
i+1
r
i-1
r
2
r
1
r
Figure 6.7: Shell model used to obtain the radial electron density prole from the
chord-integrated density using a discrete Abel inversion method.
where y is the impact parameter of the chord and r is the distance of a point on
the chord from the center of the Z-pinch. The 2 in this expression is a 4 when
the double-pass system of Sec. 5.1.1 is used instead of the single-pass system. To
discretize the integral at each of I pixels across the fringe, the plasma is modeled as I
concentric, cylindrical shells, as shown in Fig. 6.7. n
ei
, the number density across shell
i, is assumed to be constant from r
i
to r
i+1
. The chord-integrated electron number
density at the impact parameter corresponding to radius i depends on the density of
and path length through shell i and all the shells outside it:
N
ei
= 2
I1

k=i
n
ek
_
r
k+1
r
k
rdr
(r
2
r
2
i
)
1/2
, (6.5)
49
where n
ek
is the electron number density throughout each shell k, from k = i to
k = I 1. The integral in Eq. 6.5 is simplied as follows,
_
r
k+1
r
k
rdr
(r
2
r
2
i
)
1/2
=
_
_
r
2
r
2
i
_
1/2
_
r
k+1
r
k
=
_
r
2
k+1
r
2
i
_
1/2

_
r
2
k
r
2
i
_
1/2
. (6.6)
Substituting r
i
= ir, where r is the shell width, into Eq. 6.6, we get
_
r
k+1
r
k
rdr
(r
2
r
2
i
)
1/2
= r
_
_
(k + 1)
2
i
2

1/2

_
k
2
i
2
_
1/2
_
= rA
ki
, (6.7)
where
A
ki
=
_
_
(k + 1)
2
i
2

1/2

_
k
2
i
2
_
1/2
_
. (6.8)
The coecients A
ki
are used to rewrite the discrete Abel transform (Eq. 6.5) as
N
ei
= 2r
I1

k=i
n
ek
A
ki
. (6.9)
Eq. 6.9 can be solved for n
ei
to arrive at the discrete Abel inversion formula,
I1

k=i
n
ek
A
ki
=
1
2r
N
ei
A
ii
n
ei
+
I1

k=i+1
n
ek
A
ki
=
1
2r
N
ei
n
ei
=
1
A
ii
_
1
2r
N
ei

I1

k=i+1
n
ek
A
ki
_
. (6.10)
The model has been set up so that the density is zero at the outside edge of the
last shell, n
eI
= 0, and so that the density at the center is
n
e0
=
1
A
00
_
1
2r
N
e0

I1

k=1
A
k0
n
ek
_
. (6.11)
50
Substituting for A
k0
= {k + 1 k} = 1, the density at the center becomes
n
e0
=
1
2r
N
e0

I1

k=1
n
ek
. (6.12)
As shown in Fig. 6.8, the coecients A
ki
are half the path lengths through each
cylindrical shell, normalized by r, the width of each shell. In the above case where
the coecients are A
k0
= 1, the path length through each shell is simply 2r .
In eect, using the Abel inversion method is equivalent to the following process.
The electron density of the outermost shell (shell I) is calculated by dividing the
chord-integrated density at the rst chord by the path length through the shell at
that impact parameter:
n
e(I1)
=
1
A
(I1)(I1)
1
2r
N
e(I1)
. (6.13)
The electron density of the second outermost shell (shell I-1) is calculated in a similar
manner using the chord-integrated density at the second chord, except there are two
shells involved. The contribution of the outermost shell can be calculated, since the
electron density and the path length through the outermost shell are known. This
contribution is then subtracted from the chord-integrated density to yield the chord-
integrated density due to the second outermost shell alone. This value is divided by
the path length through the second outermost shell to yield the electron density of
that shell:
n
e(I2)
=
1
A
(I2)(I2)
1
2r
N
e(I2)
A
(I1)(I2)
n
e(I1)
. (6.14)
This process is repeated, working inward, until the innermost shell is reached and
the electron density at every shell has been determined. Each interferogram contains
enough information to produce two radial density proles by this method; one is based
on the lower part of the interferogram, and the other is based on the upper part.
In practice, it is more ecient to use IDLs matrix inversion function than a
user-dened back-substitution method to solve the system of equations described by
51
r/r
A
I-1 I-1
A
I-2 I-2
A
I-1 I-2
A
I-1 I-3
A
I-1 6
A
I-1 5
A
I-1 4
A
I-1 3
A
I-1 2
A
I-1 1
I-1 0
A
A
I-2 I-3
A
I-2 0
A
I-2 1
A
I-2 2
A
I-2 4
A
I-2 3
A
A
I-2 5
I-2 6
A
0 0
A A A
A A A
A A
A
1 0 2 0 3 0
1 1 2 1 3 1
2 2 3 2
3 3
A A
A A
A A
A A
A A
A
4 0 5 0
4 1 5 1
4 2 5 2
4 3 5 3
5 4 4 4
5 5
0
r /r
I
Figure 6.8: Graphical depiction of each coecient A
ki
as half the normalized path
length through a cylindrical shell of plasma.
52
Eq. 6.10. The IDL function is an optimized, executable Gaussian elimination method.
Equation 6.9 is expressed in matrix form as
N
e
= 2rAn
e
(6.15)
and solved for n
e
, yielding the Abel inversion equation in matrix form:
n
e
=
1
2r
A
1
N
e
. (6.16)
The matrix A has as its elements the coecients A
ki
, and the vectors N
e
and n
e
con-
tain the chord-integrated density and the electron density in each shell, respectively.
The matrix form of the Abel inversion equation, Eq. 6.16, is the form used in the
procedure invert interferogram.pro.
As discussed in Sec. 7.2, the location of the center of the shell model aects the
results of the inversion method. For this reason, the Abel inversion method is run
several times in invert interferogram.pro, with the shell model centered about a dif-
ferent point each time. The range of these points is controlled by the value of the
variable center range. By default, they surround the centroid of the chord-integrated
density prole, but the user is prompted to change their location if desired. The
two radial density proles that result at each center are compared using the dier-
ence in the means of the electron densities in their ten innermost shells. The center
where this dierence is smallest yields the best shell model, and the corresponding
radial density proles are stored as structures in the data le that is the output of
invert interferogram.pro.
Figure 6.9 shows the radial electron density prole that results when the chord-
integrated density of Fig. 6.6 is inverted using this method. A dotted line divides the
radial density proles based on the lower (r < 0) and upper parts of the interferogram.
53
Figure 6.9: Radial electron density prole (Pulse 31029011).
54
6.3.2 Verication of the Inversion Method
The performance of the inversion method was veried using six simulated density
proles, shown in Fig. 6.10. The equations used to create the proles in Fig. 6.10(a)-
6.10(f) are
Fig. 6.10(a), constant prole, n
e
constant, (6.17)
Fig. 6.10(b), hollow prole, n
e

_

_
r
3
for 0 < r 0.5 ,
(1 r)
3
for 0.5 r 1 ,
(6.18)
Fig. 6.10(c), linear prole, n
e

(1 r)
r
, (6.19)
Fig. 6.10(d), plateau prole, n
e

_

_
constant for 0 < r 0.5 ,
(1r)
r
for 0.5 r 1 ,
(6.20)
Fig. 6.10(e), r squared prole, n
e
(1 r)
2
, (6.21)
Fig. 6.10(f), square root of r prole, n
e

1 r, (6.22)
where n
e
is the simulated electron number density, r is the radial coordinate, and r
is the distance between consecutive points in the simulated prole. Each simulated
electron density prole was numerically integrated to produce the chord-integrated
density shown. This chord-integrated density was inverted using the Abel inversion
method to produce the inverted electron density prole shown.
The inverted proles closely match the corresponding simulated proles, with
some exceptions. The disturbances near the edges of the inverted constant prole
in Fig. 6.10(a) are caused by one of the assumptions in the Abel inversion: that
the density is zero outside the plasma column. This eectively introduces a large
discontinuity at the edge, where the density plummets from a nite value to zero.
The sharp peaks in Figs. 6.10(b), 6.10(c), 6.10(e) and 6.10(f) are not accurately
reected in the inverted proles because of the nineteen and twenty-nine-pixel-wide
55
(
a
)
(
b
)
(
c
)
(
d
)
(
e
)
(
f
)
F
i
g
u
r
e
6
.
1
0
:
P
e
r
f
o
r
m
a
n
c
e
o
f
t
h
e
i
n
v
e
r
s
i
o
n
m
e
t
h
o
d
w
h
e
n
u
s
e
d
o
n
s
i
x
s
i
m
u
l
a
t
e
d
d
e
n
s
i
t
y
p
r
o

l
e
s
.
T
h
e
i
n
v
e
r
t
e
d
p
r
o

l
e
r
e
s
u
l
t
s
w
h
e
n
t
h
e
i
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r
s
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o
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t
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s
u
s
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d
t
o
i
n
v
e
r
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t
h
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c
h
o
r
d
-
i
n
t
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g
r
a
t
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d
d
e
n
s
i
t
y
m
a
d
e
f
r
o
m
t
h
e
s
i
m
u
l
a
t
e
d
p
r
o

l
e
.
(
a
)
C
o
n
s
t
a
n
t
p
r
o

l
e
.
(
b
)
H
o
l
l
o
w
p
r
o

l
e
.
(
c
)
L
i
n
e
a
r
p
r
o

l
e
.
(
d
)
P
l
a
t
e
a
u
p
r
o

l
e
.
(
e
)
r
s
q
u
a
r
e
d
p
r
o

l
e
.
(
f
)
S
q
u
a
r
e
r
o
o
t
o
f
r
p
r
o

l
e
.
56
double smooth performed prior to the inversion, as described in Sec. 6.1. The double
smooth tends to articially atten the peaks, leading to lower values of the inverted
electron density in those regions.
57
Chapter 7
ERROR ANALYSIS
Possible sources of error in the radial electron density prole include path length
errors due to refraction by the plasma, errors in the placement of the center of the
shell model, and random errors in measurement of the fringe shift that are propagated
through the inversion method.
7.1 Path Length Errors due to Refraction
A simplied model of the plasma is used to estimate the importance of path length
errors due to refraction by the plasma. If the plasma is modeled as a block with
refractive index varying in the y direction alone, a ray of the scene beam incident in
the x direction will be bent in the y direction as it passes through the plasma. This
bending will introduce a path length error which is negligible (less than /10) if
(n

)
2
L
3
n
0

< 0.3, (7.1)

where n

is the gradient of the refractive index with respect to y, L is the path length
of the ray through the plasma, n
0
is the refractive index at y = 0, and is the
wavelength of the laser light [16].
If we assume a density prole that varies as y
2
, the refractive index is given by
n = n
0
_
1
y
a
_
2
, (7.2)
where a is the width of the block of plasma in the y direction. The gradient of the
58
refractive index with respect to y is
n

=
2n
0
a
_
1
y
a
_
. (7.3)
Substituting Eq. 7.3 into Eq. 7.1, we get for the neglection criterion
4n
2
0
a
2
_
1
y
a
_
2
L
3
< 0.3. (7.4)
Since the electron density is known, the refractive index at y = 0 can be found
from
n
2
= 1
n
e
n
c
, (7.5)
where n
e
is the electron density and n
c
is the critical electron density, above which
the laser light will not propagate [5]. This critical density is
n
c
=
2
m
0
/e
2
. (7.6)
For the laser light in vacuum,
= 2c/ =
2 (2.998 10
8
m/s)
(6943 10
10
m)
= 2.713 10
15
rad/s. (7.7)
Substituting into Eq. 7.6,
n
c
=
(2.713 10
15
rad/s)
2
(9.109 10
31
kg) (8.854 10
12
F/m)
(1.602 10
19
C)
2
= 2.313 10
27
m
3
. (7.8)
From Eq. 7.5, with n
e
= 2 10
23
m
3
, the refractive index at y = 0 is
n
0
=
_
1
2 10
23
m
3
2.313 10
27
m
3
= 0.999957. (7.9)
Assuming a = 0.01 m and L = 0.02 m, Eq. 7.4 can be evaluated at y = 0.005 m,
now that n
0
is known:
4n
2
0
a
2
_
1
y
a
_
2
L
3
=
4 (0.999957)
2
(0.01 m)
2
_
1
0.005 m
0.01 m
_
2
(0.02 m)
3
= 0.08
< 0.3. (7.10)
59
The criterion established in Eq. 7.1 is satised, so path length errors due to refraction
by the plasma can be safely neglected.
7.2 Errors due to Incorrect Center Location
The location of the center of the shell model aects the results of the inversion method.
As mentioned in 6.3, the inversion is performed with a range of center locations, and
the most symmetric model is chosen. Figure 7.1 illustrates the importance of choosing
the correct center. The rst two gures show the results of inverting the r squared
and hollow simulated density proles with a center location ten pixels (0.068 cm)
away from the actual center location. The resulting inverted proles are asymmetric,
and inversion of the hollow prole results in negative values near the center. The
third gure shows the radial density proles that result when the chord-integrated
density from Fig. 6.6 is inverted with its center location ten pixels (0.085 cm) from
that selected by invert interferogram.pro. It can be compared to Fig. 6.9, which uses
the center chosen by invert interferogram.pro.
7.3 Random Errors
Random errors in the fringe shift measurement and chord-integrated density are prop-
agated through the inversion method and result in errors in the radial density prole.
These errors are estimated using the formalism outlined in [1]. If x is the weighted
sum or dierence of u and v,
x = au bv, (7.11)
the uncertainty,
x
, in x is

x
=
_
_
x
u
_
2

2
u
+
_
x
u
_
2

2
v
2
_
x
u
__
x
u
_

2
uv
_
1/2
, (7.12)
60
(
a
)
(
b
)
(
c
)
F
i
g
u
r
e
7
.
1
:
E

e
c
t
o
f
i
n
c
o
r
r
e
c
t
c
e
n
t
e
r
l
o
c
a
t
i
o
n
o
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t
h
e
p
e
r
f
o
r
m
a
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c
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o
f
t
h
e
i
n
v
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r
s
i
o
n
m
e
t
h
o
d
.
(
a
)
r
s
q
u
a
r
e
d
p
r
o

l
e
w
i
t
h
a
c
e
n
t
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l
o
c
a
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x
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a
c
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l
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c
a
t
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.
(
b
)
H
o
l
l
o
w
p
r
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l
e
w
i
t
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a
c
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p
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w
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a
c
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a
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l
o
c
a
t
i
o
n
.
(
c
)
R
a
d
i
a
l
e
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e
c
t
r
o
n
d
e
n
s
i
t
y
p
r
o

l
e
(
P
u
l
s
e
2
1
0
2
9
0
1
1
)
w
i
t
h
a
c
e
n
t
e
r
l
o
c
a
t
i
o
n
t
e
n
p
i
x
e
l
s
a
w
a
y
f
r
o
m
t
h
a
t
s
e
l
e
c
t
e
d
b
y
i
n
v
e
r
t
i
n
t
e
r
f
e
r
o
g
r
a
m
.
p
r
o
.
61
where

2
u
= variance of u,
u
= uncertainty in u,

2
v
= variance of v,
v
= uncertainty in v and

2
uv
= covariance of u and v.
Typically, the standard deviations of u and v are used for the uncertainties. If u and
v are completely uncorrelated, the covariance is
2
uv
=
u

v
. The partial derivatives
of x with respect to u and v are the constants
x
u
= a and (7.13)
x
v
= b, (7.14)
so the uncertainty is

x
=
_
a
2

2
u
+ b
2

2
v
2ab
2
uv
_
1/2
. (7.15)
Equation 7.15 can be used to nd the standard deviation of x, a measure of the error
in our estimate of x. This result can then be added to or subtracted from each value
of x to yield error bars that are plotted about the values of x.
In the case of the radial electron density prole, the density at shell i, n
ei
, described
by Eq. 6.10, is the weighted sum of the chord-integrated density at the corresponding
impact parameter, N
ei
, and the densities n
ek
of shells i +1 to I 1. This relationship
reduces to the weighted sum of the chord-integrated densities from shell i outward,
since each term n
ek
is itself a weighted sum of the chord-integrated densities from
shell k outward. Keeping the n
ek
terms in the equation for simplicity, the uncertainty
in the electron density at shell i is given by

n
ei
=
_
1
A
2
ii
_
_
1
2r
_
2

2
N
ei

I1

k=i+1
A
2
ki

2
n
ek
__
1/2
, (7.16)
62
where
N
ei
is the uncertainty in the chord-integrated density at impact parameter
y
i
= r
i
and
n
ek
is the uncertainty in the electron density at each shell outside
shell i. The covariance term in Eq. 7.16 is zero because the values of n
ek
are not
independent of each other. The uncertainties of the n
ek
terms,
n
ek
, are calculated
at each shell, based ultimately on the uncertainty in the chord-integrated density
at each value of the impact parameter. The uncertainty in the chord-integrated
density at each impact parameter,
N
ei
, is calculated by taking the the dierence
between the raw chord-integrated density values and the smoothed chord-integrated
density values. In practice, the matrix form of Eq. 7.16 is used in the IDL procedure
invert interferogram.pro:

ne
=
_
_
1
2r
_
2
_
A
1
_
2

2
Ne
_
1/2
, (7.17)
where
ne
and
Ne
are vectors containing the variance in the electron density and the
variance in the chord-integrated density, respectively, and each element of the matrix
(A
1
)
2
is the square of the corresponding element in the matrix A
1
from Eq. 6.16.
Figure 7.2 shows the r squared simulated density prole of Fig. 6.10(e), except
that random error with standard deviation 110
15
cm
2
has been added to the chord-
integrated density. The resulting inverted prole is shown with error bars calculated
using Eq. 7.16. The simulated density prole lies within the error bars, indicating that
the random error in the chord-integrated density prole has been correctly estimated
and propagated through the inversion method.
Figure 7.3 shows the radial density prole of Fig. 6.9 with error bars plotted for
every other point. The eects of smoothing data stored as pixels in the interferogram
image are visible in the error bars in Fig. 7.3, which grow from small to relatively
large to small again every few data points. In addition, the error bars show that the
eects of random errors on the radial electron density prole are localized.
63
Figure 7.2: Performance of the inversion method when used on the r squared sim-
ulated density prole. Error bars are included for every other point to indicate the
eect of random errors on the radial density prole.
64
Figure 7.3: Radial electron density prole with error bars plotted for every other
point. The dotted line at r = 0 separates the radial electron density prole based
on the lower part of the interferogram from that based on the upper part (Pulse
21029011).
65
Chapter 8
RESULTS OF DENSITY PROFILE INVESTIGATION
Density proles of the owing Z-pinch plasmas produced by the ZaP Flow Z-pinch
were investigated using the methods described in the preceding chapters. Plasmas
composed of hydrogen, methane, and helium were studied, and all measurements were
made at the midplane of the Z-pinch. An attempt was made not only to determine
the radial density prole of the plasma, but to study its evolution with respect to
time.
8.1 Results Obtained with the Double-Pass Holographic Interferometer
An initial investigation into the radial density prole of the Z-pinch plasma was per-
formed using the double-pass holographic interferometer of Sec. 5.1.1 and the exper-
imental conguration of Fig. 2.1. Hydrogen plasmas were used for this investigation.
Two of the resulting holographic interferograms are shown in Fig. 8.1.
The chord-integrated density determined from the fringe shift in the interferograms
is shown in Fig. 8.2. A dotted line marks the center of the Z-pinch, found using the
method of Sec. 6.3 and set to impact parameter zero.
The chord-integrated density shown in Fig. 8.2(a) is determined from the fringe
shift of the fourth dark fringe from the left in Fig. 8.1(a). The large shift yields a
chord-integrated density that is peaked at approximately 5.5 10
17
cm
2
. A Z-pinch
radius of slightly less than 1 cm is also apparent from the right half of Fig. 8.2(a)
(r > 0). Since the lower edge of the fringe shift is not visible in Fig. 8.1(a), the
66
(a) (b)
Figure 8.1: Holographic interferograms made using the double-pass holographic in-
terferometer. (a) Pulse 10705009. (b) Pulse 10515011.
67
chord-integrated density information in the left-hand half of Fig. 8.2(a) is missing.
This leads to inaccuracies in the radial density prole.
The chord-integrated density of Fig. 8.2(b) is determined from the more modest
fringe shift of the sixth dark fringe from the left in Fig. 8.1(b). Its maximum value is
approximately 2.5 10
17
cm
2
and the Z-pinch radius is just over 1 cm. The chord-
integrated density is slightly hollow in the center, leading to a more dramatically
hollow radial density prole.
The radial electron density prole shown in Fig. 8.3(a) is obtained by inverting the
chord-integrated electron density data of 8.2(a) and corresponds to the interferogram
of Fig. 8.1(a). It is highly peaked at approximately 3 10
17
cm
3
at the center of
the Z-pinch. For the double-pass interferograms of this section, the chord-integrated
density was smoothed only once with a seven-pixel-wide window, as mentioned in
Sec. 6.1. The radial electron density prole of Fig. 8.3(a) is therefore somewhat
jagged. The left half of the gure is not as reliable as the right half because the
chord-integrated density is truncated, as mentioned above. Its unusual shape is due
to this truncation, and not to the plasma density gradient. The innacuracy is due to
a systematic error in the fringe shift measurement and is not reected in the error
bars, which indicate the eects of random errors.
The radial electron density prole of Fig. 8.3(b) comes from the slightly hollow
chord-integrated density data of Fig. 8.2(b) and the interferogram of Fig. 8.1(b). It
is noticeably more hollow, with a maximum value of approximately 1 10
17
cm
3
at about r = 0.3 or 0.5 cm. It is no surprise that the radial density prole for this
pulse is hollow, since the chord-integrated density decreases near its center as the
path length through the plasma increases.
Figure 8.4 shows the plasma current and normalized m = 1 mode for the plasma
pulses associated with the holographic interferograms of Fig. 8.1. The output of
68
(
a
)
(
b
)
F
i
g
u
r
e
8
.
2
:
C
h
o
r
d
-
i
n
t
e
g
r
a
t
e
d
d
e
n
s
i
t
y
d
e
t
e
r
m
i
n
e
d
f
r
o
m
t
h
e
f
r
i
n
g
e
s
h
i
f
t
i
n
t
h
e
h
o
l
o
g
r
a
p
h
i
c
i
n
t
e
r
f
e
r
o
g
r
a
m
s
o
f
F
i
g
.
8
.
1
.
(
a
)
P
u
l
s
e
1
0
7
0
5
0
0
9
.
(
b
)
P
u
l
s
e
1
0
5
1
5
0
1
1
.
69
(
a
)
(
b
)
F
i
g
u
r
e
8
.
3
:
R
a
d
i
a
l
e
l
e
c
t
r
o
n
d
e
n
s
i
t
y
p
r
o

l
e
s
r
e
s
u
l
t
i
n
g
f
r
o
m
i
n
v
e
r
s
i
o
n
o
f
t
h
e
c
h
o
r
d
-
i
n
t
e
g
r
a
t
e
d
e
l
e
c
t
r
o
n
d
e
n
s
i
t
y
d
a
t
a
o
f
F
i
g
.
8
.
2
.
(
a
)
P
u
l
s
e
1
0
7
0
5
0
0
9
.
(
b
)
P
u
l
s
e
1
0
5
1
5
0
1
1
.
70
the circuit used to monitor the ruby laser pulse is also shown in the gure, and its
peak occurs at the time the interferogram was made. Figure 8.4(a) shows that the
interferogram of Fig. 8.1(a) was made at 22 s, before the peak of the plasma current
and during the rst half of the quiescent period, which begins at 21.5 s and ends
at 24 s. The interferogram of Fig. 8.1(b) was made at 27 s, just after the peak of
the plasma current and during the latter half of the quiescent period, which begins
at 21.5 s and ends at 28 s.
Based on the radial density proles obtained from these interferograms, the radial
electron number density of the Z-pinch is highly peaked at the beginning of the
quiescent period and develops a hollow prole later in the quiescent period as the Z-
pinch widens. The contrast in the radial electron density proles of Pulses 10705009
and 10515011 led to a more detailed investigation of the evolution of the radial electron
density prole using the single-pass holographic interferometer. The switch to a single-
pass system was made following damage to the laser rod that occured while making
measurements with the double-pass holographic interferometer (see Sec. 5.1.1).
8.2 Results Obtained with the Single-Pass Holographic Interferometer
The single-pass holographic interferometer of Sec. 5.1.2 was used to investigate the
time evolution of the density prole of Z-pinches made using the experimental con-
guration shown in Fig. 5.2. Plasmas composed of hydrogen, a 50% methane/50%
hydrogen mixture, and helium were studied. As shown in Fig. 8.5, a Z-pinch formed
with helium has a higher density than a methane/hydrogen or pure hydrogen Z-pinch.
This leads to a maximum fringe order of about one fringe for a helium Z-pinch and a
higher signal-to-noise ratio in the chord-integrated density. As a result, features of the
chord-integrated density and the radial electron density prole are more discernible.
Figure 8.6 is an example of an interferogram made during a helium plasma pulse
71
quiescent
period
(a)
quiescent
period
(b)
Figure 8.4: Normalized m = 1 mode, plasma current, and holography laser monitor
associated with the holographic interferograms of Fig. 8.1. (a) Pulse 10705009. (b)
Pulse 10515011.
72
Figure 8.5: Radial electron density proles for hydrogen, 50% methane/50% hydrogen,
and helium Z-pinches (Pulses 20910027, 21029011 and 30204007).
73
Figure 8.6: A holographic interferogram made using the single-pass holographic in-
terferometer (Pulse 30204010).
using the single-pass holographic interferometer. A comparision of Fig. 8.6 with
Fig. 8.1 shows the interferograms made with the single-pass holographic interferometer
are much higher quality than the double-pass interferograms. This higher quality
is the result of improvements made to the optical conguration of the single-pass
holographic interferometer. Many of the mirrors used were designed to be used with
a 45 deg angle of incidence. This requirement was adhered to in the optical setup of the
single-pass system, but it was not rigorously observed in the double-pass holographic
interferometer, leading to lower-quality interferograms. The addition of imaging lenses
to the scene and reference beam paths of the single-pass holographic interferometer
also contributed to the quality improvement.
The magnitude and shape of the fringe shift in Fig. 8.6 varies from the left side of
the interferogram to the right side, indicating that the density of the Z-pinch varies
axially as well as radially. Figure 8.7 shows the same interferogram with its bright
fringes and the associated straight lines labeled and highlighted. The chord-integrated
74
Figure 8.7: The holographic interferogram of Fig. 8.6 with its bright fringes high-
lighted and numbered.
density from fringes 5-9 is shown in Fig. 8.8. In this case, a value of zero for the impact
parameter corresponds to the center of the vacuum chamber, y = 0. A change in the
shape and magnitude of the chord-integrated density are apparent from one side of
the interferogram to the other. The location of the plasma with respect to the center
of the vacuum chamber and how it varies across the interferogram is also evident from
the chord-integrated density.
The radial asymmetry of the chord-integrated density from this particular inter-
ferogram indicates that it cannot be reliably inverted using the Abel inversion method
described in Sec. 6.3.1. Even if it were symmetric, the decrease in the chord-integrated
density near the center of many of the fringes is great enough that it causes the Abel
inversion method to output negative density values near the center of the plasma col-
umn. This behavior indicates that the plasma would be better modeled using some
other model, such as two plasma laments. In the majority of cases, however, the
radially symmetric, single-column model is the appropriate model.
75
Figure 8.8: Chord-integrated electron density obtained from fringes 5 through 9 in
Fig. 8.7.
76
The holographic interferometer was used on successive helium plasma pulses to
investigate the time evolution of the radial electron density prole. Figure 8.9 shows
density proles during formation of the Z-pinch. To within the resolution and view
of the holographic interferometer, the density prole is initially at or zero as the
plasma arrives at the axial location where the holographic measurements were made
(Pulse 30205010). The density prole becomes more peaked during the early part of
the Z-pinchs formation (Pulse 30205014). During the latter part of the formation
process, the density prole becomes relatively at or zero, indicating that either the
electron density is below the resolution of the holographic interferometer or its edges
are out of view (Pulse 30205018).
The observations made during formation with the holographic interferometer are
in agreement with the two-chord He-Ne interferometer measurements shown along
with the normalized m = 1 mode, total plasma current and holography laser monitor
in Fig. 8.10. The normalized m = 1 mode and plasma current are plotted in the rst
column for the helium plasma pulses used to study formation of the Z-pinch. Plotted
in the second column is the chord-integrated electron number density, as recorded
by the two-chord He-Ne interferometer at the midplane of a helium Z-pinch. Impact
parameters y = 0 cm and y = 1.5 cm are measured from the center of the vacuum
chamber. The holography laser monitor included in both columns shows when each
interferogram was made. The chord-integrated electron density is approximately the
same at y = 0 cm and y = 1.5 cm during arrival and late formation, when the
interferograms of Pulses 30205010 and 30205018 were made. It is higher at y =
0 cm during late formation, corresponding to the peaked prole obtained from the
interferogram of Pulse 30205014.
Figure 8.11 shows density proles during and after the quiescent period of the Z-
pinch. A peaked prole was observed during the middle of the quiescent period (Pulse
77
Figure 8.9: Radial electron density proles for helium Z-pinches during formation of
the Z-pinch (Pulses 30205010, 30205014, and 30205018).
78
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
(e) (f)
Figure 8.10: Normalized m = 1 mode, plasma current and chord-integrated electron
number density for the helium Z-pinches used to study the density prole during
formation (Fig. 8.9). The holography laser monitor shows when each interferogram
was made. (a)(b) Pulse 30205010. (c)(d) Pulse 30205014. (e)(f) Pulse 30205018.
79
30204007). The density prole becomes less peaked late in the quiescent period (Pulse
30204019) and attens following the quiescent period (Pulse 30204021). Figure 8.12
shows the normalized m = 1 mode, plasma current, holography laser monitor, and
chord-integrated electron number density from the two-chord He-Ne interferometer
for the helium plasma pulses used to study the density prole during and after the
quiescent period. The measurements made with the He-Ne interferometer once again
agree with the density proles obtained using the holographic interferometer. The
chord-integrated electron density measured at y = 0 cm is much higher than that
measured at y = 1.5 cm during the middle of the quiescent period, when the in-
terferogram of Pulse 30204007 was made. Later in the quiescent period, when the
interferogram of Pulse 30204019 was made, the value of the chord-integrated density
at y = 0 drops, leading to a less-peaked density prole. The interferogram of Pulse
30204021 was made after the quiescent period, when the chord-integrated density at
both y = 0 cm and y = 1.5 cm is low. The decrease in the peak of the density
prole late in the quiescent period is typically sharper for helium than for hydrogen
or hydrogen/methane.
80
Figure 8.11: Radial electron density proles for helium Z-pinches during and after
the quiescent period (Pulses 30204007, 30204019, 30204021).
81
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
(e) (f)
Figure 8.12: Normalized m = 1 mode, plasma current and chord-integrated electron
number density for the helium Z-pinches used to study the density prole during and
after the quiescent period (Fig. 8.11). The holography laser monitor shows when each
interferogram was made. (a)(b) Pulse 30204007. (c)(d) Pulse 30204019. (e)(f)
Pulse 30204021.
82
Chapter 9
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Holographic interferometry is used on the ZaP Flow Z-Pinch Experiment to inves-
tigate the radial electron density prole of a sheared-ow Z-pinch plasma. During a
plasma pulse, a single-time measurement is made using a pulsed ruby laser and holo-
graphic techniques, yielding a two-dimensional map of the chord-integrated electron
density. This chord-integrated measurement is inverted using an Abel inversion to
yield the radial electron density prole of the Z-pinch. Holographic interferograms
are made at dierent times on successive plasma pulses to study the evolution of the
density prole with respect to time.
Several working gases were used to make the various Z-pinches studied. In gen-
eral, it was found that helium Z-pinches have a higher electron density than hydro-
gen/methane or hydrogen Z-pinches and therefore provide a better signal-to-noise
ratio for making density measurements.
Some of the holographic interferograms were made using a double-pass holographic
interferometer, and some were made using a single-pass holographic interferometer.
Higher-quality interferograms were produced using the single-pass interferometer, due
to an improved optical conguration. A better signal-to-noise ratio was obtained
using the double-pass interferometer, because of the increased fringe shift that results
from the longer path through the plasma. For this reason, it is advisable to use
the double-pass holographic interferometer when making density measurements of
hydrogen or hydrogen/methane plasmas. Imaging optics should be used to reduce
83
diracted and stray light in the double-pass holographic interferometer, and optical
components such as max-R mirrors should be carefully positioned. It is also advisable
to take measures to prevent the returning scene beam in the double-pass holographic
interferometer from reecting from the beamsplitter and back into the laser cavity.
These precautions are necessary to protect the ruby laser rod from damage.
The data collection rate was increased by switching to specially-ordered 35 mm
Slavich PFG-01 holographic lm instead of holographic plates. Because the lm is less
sensitive at the ruby laser wavelength than AGFA plates, lenses are used to increase
the power per unit area of the laser light that exposes the lm. The process used
to develop and reconstruct the lm is nearly identical to the procedure used for the
plates.
Measuring the fringe shift of often hazy interferograms is the most dicult part
of obtaining the radial density prole. This task is performed by the IDL procedure
analyze interferogram.pro, which was continuously modied over the course of the
investigation. The improvement in clarity that occurred with the addition of lenses
into the single-pass beam paths made fringe shift measurement easier.
The Abel inversion method reliably inverts both synthetic test proles and ex-
perimental data. Each fringe of the interferogram yields two radial electron density
prolesone from the upper part of the interferogram, and one from the lower part.
Iteration of the method is used to nd the central point that yields the most sym-
metric radial electron density prole. This central point is selected as the center of
the Z-pinch, and the corresponding prole is selected as the radial electron density of
the Z-pinch.
In general, the radial electron density proles show a Z-pinch with an electron
number density of around 1 10
17
cm
3
and a radius of 1 to 1.5 cm. The Z-pinch
is radially symmetric, to the level of accuracy reected in the error bars. Both the
84
radial density prole and the chord-integrated density often vary from one fringe to
the next across an interferogram, indicating an axial density gradient.
The time evolution of a helium Z-pinch is shown in Chapter 8, and the results ob-
tained using the holographic interferometer are corroborated by measurements made
using a He-Ne interferometer. Both interferometers show that the electron density
or the location of the plasma uctuates during formation of the Z-pinch. A peaked
radial electron density prole is observed on-axis during the middle of the quiescent
period. The density prole becomes less peaked later in the quiescent period. After
the end of the quiescent period, the dense plasma disappears.
85
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