Laser Measurements of Transient High-Strength Electric Fields
Abstract
An experiment was undertaken to determine the usefulness of Rayleight and Raman scattering as a nonintrusive probe for measuring local electric field strengths. Measurements were made using an argon-ion laser, photon counting electronics, and a 30 kV Stark cell capable of pressurization to 1 MPa. This system was successfully used with He, Ne, Ar, Kr, N2, CO2, CF4, SF6, and CC12F2 gases using a right-angle scattering configuration in which the observation direction was along the axis of polarization of the laser beam. In all cases, a drop was seen in the counting rate for Rayleight scattering. A means of calculating the observed effect in Rayleigh scattering was selected based on quantum perturbation theory. This method used both a Coulomb approximation and a single-electron approximation. A computer code was written to implement the perturbation scheme. This code requires input in the form of matrix elements taken from tables in the literature. As not all of the needed entries are available in published form, a second program was beeing written to extend the published tables. The computer calculations were made to give all contributions to the polarizability including those involving more than one continuum state. Raman spectra were unchanged by 10 MV/m applied fields.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 15, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA198247
Entities
People
- Roger J. Becker
Organizations
- University of Dayton