ELECTRON-TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT IN LASER-PRODUCED PLASMAS BY THE RATIO OF ISOELECTRONIC LINE-INTENSITIES

A class of spectroscopic line ratios has been adapted as a diagnostic of electron temperature from < 100 eV to > 1 keV. The diagnostic makes use of the ratio of line intensities from isoelectronic states of different elements in specially prepared targets. The diagnostic is simple to interpret, shows weak dependence on plasma density, requires only low to moderate spectral resolution, uses a single charge state, and can be adapted to minimize line reabsorption and wavelength coincidences with other spectral lines. We present theoretical and experimental results.