TRANSIENT LIGHT EMISSIONS FROM A LASER PERTURBED PLASMA

The interaction between a 20 MW Q-switched ruby laser pulse and a partially ionized argon plasma has been studied experimentally. When the focused laser pulse is fired into the plasma, a transient emission from the plasma may be observed both in the continuum and line emission. From measurements of the absolute intensities of this transient radiation, estimates have been made of the population density of the excited atoms and of the electron densities.