Papers

Peer-reviewed Lead author
May, 2022

Optical design of a laser wavefront sensor applicable under strong diffraction effects by irreproducible microscale high-density plasma

Measurement Science and Technology
  • Keitaro Shimada
  • ,
  • Yuki Inada
  • ,
  • Ayumu Ishijima
  • ,
  • Keiichi Nakagawa

Volume
33
Number
5
First page
055403
Last page
055403
Language
English
Publishing type
Research paper (scientific journal)
DOI
10.1088/1361-6501/ac5281
Publisher
IOP Publishing

Accurate measurements of electron density in irreproducible microscale high-density plasmas are indispensable for improving laser processing and plasma processing technology because the dynamics of these plasmas are strongly influenced by their electron density. Because single-path laser wavefront sensors are capable of acquiring the two-dimensional electron density distribution with a single shot, the electron density of irreproducible millimeter-scale low-density plasmas has been measured by using such sensors. However, the strong diffraction effects caused by the irreproducible microscale high-density plasmas pose challenges for the measurement. In this study, we numerically and experimentally demonstrate a suitable optical configuration of single-path laser wavefront sensors for accurate measurements of irreproducible microscale high-density plasmas with minimal measurement errors. Our Fresnel diffraction-based numerical simulation indicates that the serious measurement errors caused by the strong diffraction effects can be significantly reduced through the use of relay lenses with high magnification and a short-wavelength laser source. In addition, we propose an alignment procedure for the optical setup to minimize the measurement errors and experimentally validated the procedure by measuring a laser wavefront shaped by a spatial light modulator. Finally, we applied the verified laser wavefront sensor to the measurement of a laser-induced plasma with a two-dimensional line-integrated electron density higher than 1 x 10(21) m(-2) in an approximately 40 x 50 um region. This study provides a new strategy to rigorously analyze the dynamics of irreproducible microscale high-density plasmas using a laser wavefront sensor.

Link information
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6501/ac5281
Web of Science
https://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=JSTA_CEL&SrcApp=J_Gate_JST&DestLinkType=FullRecord&KeyUT=WOS:000760505400001&DestApp=WOS_CPL
URL
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6501/ac5281
URL
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6501/ac5281/pdf
ID information
  • DOI : 10.1088/1361-6501/ac5281
  • ISSN : 0957-0233
  • eISSN : 1361-6501
  • Web of Science ID : WOS:000760505400001

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