Characterization of laser-produced plasma in a plasma opening switch

The laser-produced plasma was studied by a variety of measurement methods-spectroscopy, interferometry, Faraday cup and plasma probe measurements. These experimental results show that at the position corresponding to the switch region, the plasma exists for about 1000 ns and its peak density is about 3-4/spl times/10/sup 13/ cm/sup -3/ and the POS plasma consists mostly of single ionized carbon and oxygen ions in the case of carbon target. Comparing the plasma measurements with the previous experimental data on the POS operation, the relationships between the laser-produced plasma characteristics and the POS operation regimes are presented.