Laser scattering with a rapidly tuned dye laser

A facility is described for the measurement of the total spectrum produced by laser radiation scattered from a plasma during one laser pulse. The dye laser is electrooptically tuned by a high frequency voltage applied to a modified Lyot filter within its cavity. The scattered spectrum is registrated together with the laser reference signal by a transient recorder and processed afterwards. Both measuring time and inaccuracy could be reduced drastically. Scattering experiments have been accomplished in a H₂ cascade of 5 mm diameter arc at atmospheric pressure, and at 14 and 20 A, respectively. For this arc very precise spectroscopic results are available for checking the accuracy of the scattering measurements. Both the spectroscopic line and continuum experiments yield a temperature which lies between electron and ion temperature if there is no local thermal equilibrium, whereas the pure electron temperature is provided by the scattered spectrum. The agreement between spectroscopic and scattering results within the high error limits is the experimental proof for the applicability of this new scattering technique which requires only about one hundredth of the measuring time, as compared with the usual shot-to-shot registration.