SHEARING INTERFEROMETER WITH AN AIR WEDGE FOR THE ELECTRON-DENSITY DIAGNOSTICS IN A DENSE-PLASMA

A side-shearing interferometer with the held visualization for the stu dy of the spatial electron density distribution in Z-pinch and laser-p roduced plasmas is described. It consists of a lens and two glass wedg es. The interference is formed as a result of a superposition of two l aser beams reflected by the faces of the air wedge, which is in the ga p between two surfaces of the glass wedges pressed to each other. The instrument makes it possible to adjust the spatial separation between the interfering beams and the fringe width. The interferometer has a s imple design and provides a high-quality interference pattern. The eff iciency of the instrument is demonstrated in experiments with a gas-pu ff Z-pinch plasma.