PROPERTIES OF PLASMA RADIATION DIAGNOSTICS

A number of diagnostics utilizing the radiation emitted from high-temp erature plasmas have been developed at Los Alamos. Photoemissive x-ray diodes with photon energy bandpass filters provide time-resolved roug h spectral data from about 6 eV to > 10 keV photon energy. Filtered si licon photodiodes can be used down to 1 eV and offer the advantages of nominally hat response and ability to operate in poor vacuum conditio ns. Both types of diodes will provide a rough time-resolved spectrum a nd both are relatively inexpensive, reliable, and passive (i.e., no sy nchronization problems). For higher-energy resolution, bent crystal sp ectrographs are used in the x-ray region. With the addition of streak cameras or gated microchannel plates these systems provide data with h igh energy and high time resolution. To measure the total energy outpu t, a thin foil bolometer is used that measures the change in foil resi stance as it is heated by the plasma radiation. By combining these dia gnostics into a complementary set good diagnostic information can be g uaranteed on any plasma experiment.