A novel technology has been developed which enables high-brightness, broadband light output from the VUV to the IR
spectral regions. A focused laser is used to sustain a high-pressure xenon discharge inside a bulb, creating a smaller,
hotter discharge than can be obtained by using an electrically-driven discharge. This allows for continuous output down
to 120 nm wavelength and into the infrared. Application areas include hyperspectral imaging, standoff detection,
surveillance, bioanalytical instrumentation, microscopy, and materials studies. Laser-driven optical discharges were first
investigated over 30 years ago, providing the initial technical understanding of such discharges. However it took the
convergence of two separate elements - the availability of low-cost, high-efficiency CW diode lasers; and a market need
for high-brightness, broadband light source - to provide the impetus for further development in this area. Using near-IR
CW diode lasers at power levels from 15 W to over 2000 W, we have generated high-pressure xenon discharges having
temperatures as high as 10,000 C. The optical brightness of these discharges can be over an order of magnitude higher
than those obtainable from the brightest xenon arc lamps, and can be several orders of magnitude brighter than
deuterium lamps. Results from modeling of these discharges as well as experimental measurements will be presented.
A high resolution Fabry-Perot interferoineter has been used to study the translational dynandcs of ions in a divergent field ECR reactor. The degree of radial ion motion in the plasn'ia was characterized through measurements of the Doppler profiles of Ar and Cl emission lines at various operating pressures, optical orientations and itagnetic field configurations. Average translational energies for both Ar and Cl ions increase from 1.0eV to 2.5eV as the pressure is decreased from 2.OmTorr to 0.lmTorr. In addition, the application of a collimating magnetic field in the substrate region has a significant effect on the ion emission linewidth. A small Doppler shift is observed for emission collected along the axis of the reactor providing evidence for directed ion motion out of the source region of the plasma. These observations, coupled with Langmuir probe studies of the ion density and plasma potential suggest that radial electric field variations in the plasma contribute significantly to lateral ion motion.
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