Characterization of dynamic and structured plasma using laser-collision induced fluorescence

Laser collision-induced fluorescence (LCIF)
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is a powerful diagnostic which can be used for making temporally and spatially resolved measurements of electron densities in a plasma discharge. The technique, which involves the measurement of optical emission emanating from higher energy excited states due to the redistribution of the lower energy laser-excited state by collisions with energetic electrons, has been readily employed to study helium discharges. In this work, we report on recent systems studied with the LCIF diagnostic and describe efforts to extend the LCIF technique to argon based plasma systems.