What is it about?
Ever wonder how scientists study super-fast laser pulses? They use a special camera, called a "streak camera," that's so fast it can capture light lasting mere trillionths of a second! This research used this camera to understand these laser pulses and their interactions with plasmas. The camera captures the pulse in time, revealing its duration. By adjusting the camera settings, the researchers figured out how to best measure the pulse and applied the streak camera diagnostics to measure Hydrogen (H) atomic densities in a microwave plasma torch by using lasers to excite these atoms.
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Why is it important?
The reason this matters? These laser pulses help scientists "see" inside plasmas, studying atomic species. An example of such a laser-based plasma diagnostic technique is the two-photon absorption laser induced fluorescence (TALIF), which excites atoms using two laser photons. The camera reveals how long these atoms stay excited, which is important for understanding how plasmas work. This knowledge has applications in areas like materials processing, aerospace, etc.
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This page is a summary of: Investigation of picosecond laser pulse properties using a streak camera and their utilization for TALIF studies in a microwave plasma torch, January 2024, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
DOI: 10.2514/6.2024-0806.
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