AIP Advances (Jan 2021)

Application of Nomarski interference system in supersonic gas-jet target diagnosis

  • Qiushi Liu,
  • Mingjiang Ma,
  • Xiaohua Zhang,
  • Baozhen Zhao,
  • Chong Lv,
  • Xianghao Meng,
  • Zhao Wang,
  • Chuangye He,
  • Baoxian Tian,
  • Xiaofeng Xi,
  • Fulong Liu,
  • Bing Guo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0027317
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 015145 – 015145-7

Abstract

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Supersonic gas-jet target performs an important role in laser wakefield acceleration, and its density diagnosis is a significant part of target characteristic study. In this paper, a Mach–Zehnder and Nomarski interference system is set up and used for gas-jet target density diagnosis. We have investigated and compared the performance of the Mach–Zehnder part and Nomarski part. The feasibility of the Nomarski interferometer with vertical fringes has been verified. Moreover, it shows better stability and has a more compact structure, beneficial for obtaining more accurate and effective target density characterization in laser wakefield acceleration.