Measurement of Thomson-scattering spectra with continuous angular resolution (invited).

A novel Thomson-scattering diagnostic with continuous angular resolution over a span of 120° was developed for the characterization of plasmas produced at the Omega Laser Facility. Spectrally resolving light scattered from electron plasma wave features as a function of emission angle provides a means to efficiently probe a large range of plasma frequencies and k vectors. Together, these spectra contain critical constraints on the plasma-physics models used to interpret the data and enable experimental measurements of the electron-velocity distribution function over several orders of magnitude without assumptions about its mathematical form. Major components of the instrument include (1) a reflective collection objective that gathers light over a range of 120° × 12°; (2) a spatial-filter image relay for measurement localization; (3) cylindrical optics for producing a line image of the collection aperture; (4) a transmission grating spectrometer; and (5) a time-gated, image-intensified camera. Thomson-scattered light collected from an ∼50 - μm3 volume of plasma is recorded with 0.8-nm spectral and 1° angular resolution. Initial experiments examined the properties of the electron-velocity distribution in gas-jet-produced plasmas in the presence of heating via inverse bremsstrahlung absorption.