High-resolution fiber imaging for pulsed power experiments.

Area of Science:

• Plasma Physics
• Experimental Diagnostics
• Optical Imaging

Background:

• Pulsed power experiments generate intense plasma emissions.
• Accurate imaging of these emissions is crucial for understanding plasma behavior.
• Existing diagnostic methods may have limitations in resolution or scope.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel diagnostic for imaging visible plasma emissions.
• To utilize high-resolution plastic optical fibers for enhanced imaging capabilities.
• To characterize and validate the performance of the developed diagnostic system.

Main Methods:

• A diagnostic system was constructed using a commercial cable of 13,000 acrylic fibers, forming a 2 mm diameter bundle.
• Various configurations were tested to achieve a wide range of spatial resolutions (3-700 µm) and fields of view (0.05-45 mm).
• The diagnostic was deployed and tested on the 1-MA Mykonos accelerator at Sandia National Laboratories.

Main Results:

• The system successfully imaged visible emissions from a hybrid x-pinch target.
• The diagnostic demonstrated its capability to capture detailed spatial information of plasma emissions.
• Preliminary results validated the effectiveness of the fiber optic approach for plasma imaging.

Conclusions:

• The developed plastic optical fiber diagnostic offers a novel and effective method for imaging plasma emissions.
• This technique provides high-resolution imaging capabilities suitable for pulsed power experiments.
• The successful deployment on the Mykonos accelerator highlights the diagnostic's practical applicability.