Thomson-scattering measurements in the collective and noncollective regimes in laser produced plasmas (invited)

We present simultaneous Thomson-scattering measurements of light scattered from ion-acoustic and electron-plasma fluctuations in a N-2 gas jet plasma. By varying the plasma density from 1.5 x 10(18) to 4.0 x 10(19) cm(-3) and the temperature from 100 to 600 eV, we observe the transition from the collective regime to the noncollective regime in the high-frequency Thomson-scattering spectrum. These measurements allow an accurate local measurement of fundamental plasma parameters: electron temperature, density, and ion temperature. Furthermore, experiments performed in the high densities typically found in laser produced plasmas result in scattering from electrons moving near the phase velocity of the relativistic plasma waves. Therefore, it is shown that even at low temperatures relativistic corrections to the scattered power must be included. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3478975]