title: Compact collimated fiber optic array diagnostic for railgun plasmas.
abstract: We developed and tested a compact collimated 16 channel fiber optic array diagnostic for studying the light emission of railgun armature plasmas with approximately millimeter spatial and submicrosecond temporal resolution. The design and operational details of the diagnostic are described. Plasma velocities, oscillation, and dimension data from the diagnostic for the Livermore fixed hybrid armature experiment are presented and compared with one-dimensional simulations. The techniques and principles discussed allow the extension of the diagnostic to other railgun and related dense plasma experiments.
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P. O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Solberg
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Ferriera
authors.forename: L K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Tully
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Stephan