Thomson scattering plasma diagnostics using a four pulse ruby laser

Abstract

Four giant laser pulses, separately programmed and amplified, have been obtained from a single ruby oscillator/amplifier system. An array of totally internally reflecting prisms divided the main cavity into four sub-cavities, each of which was independently Q switched with delay variables from 0.600 mu s. The pulses produced by this system have been used to make more efficient Thomson scattering measurements on a pulsed laboratory plasma.