An experimental setup to study the expansion dynamics of laser blow-off plasma plume in variable transverse magnetic...

In the present work we report generation of uniform and variable pulsed magnetic field in synchronization with pulsed plasma for the study of the expansion dynamics of laser blow-off (LBO) plasma plume. The experimental procedure for optimizing various parameters of the setup, e.g., the production of pulsed field and its synchronization with pulsed plasma and diagnostics system, is also reported. Until now the effect of magnetic field was studied using fixed field. The present setup, however, provides variable and uniform field in synchronization with the setup. A low cost time sequencing control module has been developed for the above purpose. Although the main emphasis is on the technical aspect of the setup, salient features of the effect of transverse magnetic field on the evolution features of the neutral and ionic species are also reported briefly. It is observed that LBO generated plume have a stronger correlation with the magnetic field in comparison to the conventional laser produced plasma experiments as reported earlier.