AIP Advances (May 2021)

Magnetic field imaging in a laboratory plasma

  • T. J. Gilbert,
  • K. J. Stevenson,
  • M. C. Paul,
  • T. E. Steinberger,
  • E. E. Scime

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0052957
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 5
pp. 055314 – 055314-5

Abstract

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In laboratory plasmas, arrays of probes have typically been used to measure the evolution of the magnetic field topology. Here, we present initial image-based measurements of the magnetic topology in a low-temperature plasma using a purely optical diagnostic. Laser induced fluorescence measurements of neutral velocity distribution functions are made using a fast camera, imaging the Zeeman splitting of σ-peaks in neutral argon. The separation of σ-peaks provides spatially resolved magnetic field magnitude measurements with a detection threshold on the order of 10 G.