Changing fluorescence in a streaming barium plasma due to an axial magnetic field

Abstract

The present investigations consider the case of a low-density laser-produced plasma expanding into a vacuum in the presence of an axial magnetic field. The time-integrated line intensities of neutral and singly ionized barium have been measured for magnetic fields up to 300 G. These measurements reveal three prominent changes in the intensities of individual lines as a function of increasing magnetic field: extinction, growth, and severe attenuation followed by enhancement. Measurements support a model that predicts the quenching of higher-lying transitions and the enhancement of lower-lying transitions for increasing magnetic fields.