Z-pinch Plasma Temperature and Implosion Velocity from Laboratory Plasma Jets using Thomson Scattering

We discuss the use of collective Thomson scattering to determine the implosion velocity and other properties of laboratory plasma jets. The plasma jet is created using a 1 MA pulsed power machine with a 15 $\mu$m Al radial foil load. The Thomson scattering laser has a maximum energy of 10~J at 526.5~nm with a pulse duration of 3~ns. Using a time gated ICCD camera and spectrometer system we are able to record the scattered spectrum from 9 or 18 regions along the laser path with sub-mm spatial resolution. Collecting scattered radiation from the same area at two different angles simultaneously enables determination of both the radial and azimuthal velocities. The scattered spectrum for non-magnetized jets indicates a radial implosion velocity of 27~km/s into the jets. A determination of ion and electron temperatures from the scattered spectrum is in progress. Comparing results using a laser energy of 10~J and 1~J shows noticeable effects on plasma jet properties when using 10~J. Therefore the lower laser energy must be used to determine the plasma properties.