Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6040-0119

Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Physics and Astronomy

Committee Chair

Earl Scime

Committee Co-Chair

Paul Cassak

Committee Member

Paul Cassak

Committee Member

Weichao Tu

Committee Member

Amy Keesee

Abstract

Accurate characterization of the magnetic field strength and direction within a plasma is increasingly important as experiments attempt to probe the physics of plasmas at kinetic scales. Non-perturbative laser-based diagnostics which are spatially and temporally localized—such as laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and Thomson scattering for the measurement of ion and electron distribution functions, respectively—are increasingly relied on for measurements in laboratory plasmas. This work seeks to develop a spatially and temporally localized non-perturbative laser-based diagnostic for the measurement of magnetic fields in laboratory-relevant plasmas. Two such techniques are investigated here: Zeeman-split LIF and quantum beat spectroscopy (QBS).

Zeeman-split LIF measures the σ± distribution function peaks, the location of which provides a measure of the magnetic field strength. Presented here are first-time measurements of the two-dimensional magnetic field using Zeeman-split LIF. A measurement resolution of < 10 G is demonstrated. Pulsed Zeeman-split LIF measurements in a plasma-gun generated flux rope are also attempted. QBS measures the energy difference between electron states, in this case Zeeman-split states, by preparing an electron into a superposition of both states. First time quantum beat spectroscopy measurements of Zeeman-split states in neutral argon and neutral helium are presented here. A method for measuring the magnetic field direction using QBS is demonstrated.

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