Laser-induced-fluorescence (LIF) provides a means of non-perturbatively determining the complete ion or neutral atom velocity distribution (VDF) function in a plasma along any direction with high spatial and temporal resolution. The upgrade of the laser systems currently in use will significantly enhance the present experimental capabilities of the laboratory. The new instrumentation includes a solid-state-laser pumped ring dye laser for Ar II and Xe II LIF and a portable, tunable, high-power diode laser in a Master Oscillator Power Amplifier (MOPA) configuration for Ar II, He I, and Ar I LIF. These new laser components will enhance four ongoing experimental projects, which include: a study of the effects of multi-ion species plasmas on double layer formation in the expansion region of compact helicon source plasma; an investigation of ion heating and acceleration arising from the damping of magnetohydrodynamic waves thought to play important roles in the heating and acceleration of the solar corona; a collaboration with the University of Tromsø that will examine the role of sheared flows in multi-species plasmas, and a collaboration with Auburn University that will investigate the bulk flow of ions while simultaneously measuring the dust velocity field in a complex, i.e., dusty, plasma. In addition to these ongoing collaborations, this group is actively pursuing additional LIF-based collaborations involving plasma thrusters, studies of ion heating during magnetic reconnection, and plasma-assisted reforming of coal into methane.
Beyond the impact that the proposed instrumentation will have on ongoing scientific studies, the WVU physics program attracts collaborators from within and outside the United States; over 30 collaborators have participated in either training or collaborative LIF experiments in the PI's laboratory over the past ten years. This group has a record of disseminating their LIF advances through publications, collaborative experiments involving the portable LIF system, and hands-on training of visiting scientists and students from the United States and abroad. In addition, the laboratory provides internal training and education opportunities for graduate students, undergraduates, and postdoctoral researchers. The proposed activities will improve the percentage of women and other underrepresented groups, such as first generation college students, obtaining advanced degrees in physics; increase involvement of undergraduates in cutting-edge scientific research; enhance the mentoring of postdoctoral researchers in the development and leadership of national and international collaborations; help to attract new minority physics faculty, and support the plasma physics investigations of six current external users through their use of the LIF system at WVU and the use of the portable LIF system at their home institutions
