Impact of non-Maxwellian electron velocity distribution functions on inferred plasma parameters in collective Thomson scattering

Optical collective Thomson scattering provides precise density and temperature measurements in numerous plasma-physics experiments. The accuracy of such measurements depends on the core assumption that the underlying electron distribution functions in under-dense laser-produced plasmas are Maxwellian. A statistically based, quantitative analysis of the errors in the measured electron density and temperature is presented when synthetic data calculated using a non-Maxwellian electron distribution function is fit assuming a Maxwellian electron distribution. Such analysis can lead to errors of up to 50% in temperature and 30% in density, in the specific case of super-Gaussian distributions characteristic of inverse bremsstrahlung heating. Including the proper family of non-Maxwellian electron distribution functions, as a fitting parameter, in Thomson-scattering analysis removes the model-dependent errors in the inferred parameters at a minimal cost to the statistical uncertainty. Published under license by AIP Publishing.