PLASMA SPECTROSCOPY IN INERTIAL CONFINEMENT FUSION AND SOFT-X-RAY LASER RESEARCH

After a review of the basic theory of quantitative spectroscopy of atoms and incompletely stripped ions immersed in plasmas, applications to diagnostics and modeling of dense plasmas are discussed. Density and temperature measurements are emphasized, together with magnetic and electric-field measurements and determination of anisotropy in the electron distribution function. The important role of spectral line broadening in soft x-ray laser research is pointed out. There is a possibility of collisional narrowing of the usual thermal Doppler line profile, although this narrowing may be compensated or over-compensated by the broadening effects of elastic ion-ion collisions. At very high power levels, the laser line may also be broadened by the laser field via resonant dynamical Stark effects.