This Letter reports on the measurement of the energy loss and the projectile charge states of argon ions at an energy of $4\mathrm{MeV}/\mathrm{u}$ penetrating a fully ionized carbon plasma. The plasma of $n_e\approx {10}^{20}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-3}$ and $T_e\approx 180\mathrm{eV}$ is created by two laser beams at ${\lambda }_{\mathrm{Las}}=532\mathrm{nm}$ incident from opposite sides on a thin carbon foil. The resulting plasma is spatially homogenous and allows us to record precise experimental data. The data show an increase of a factor of 2 in the stopping power which is in very good agreement with a specifically developed Monte Carlo code, that allows the calculation of the heavy ion beam’s charge state distribution and its energy loss in the plasma.

This article reports on the development and set-up of a Nomarski-type multi-frame interferometer as a time and space resolving diagnostics of the free electron density in laser-generated plasma. The interferometer allows the recording of a series of 4 images within 6 ns of a single laser-plasma interaction. For the setup presented here, the minimal accessible free electron density is 5 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻³, the maximal one is 2 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³. Furthermore, it provides a resolution of the electron density in space of 50 μm and in time of 0.5 ns for one image with a customizable magnification in space for each of the 4 images. The electron density was evaluated from the interferograms using an Abel inversion algorithm. The functionality of the system was proven during first experiments and the experimental results are presented and discussed. A ray tracing procedure was realized to verify the interferometry pictures taken. In particular, the experimental results are compared to simulations and show excellent agreement, providing a conclusive picture of the evolution of the electron density distribution.

This paper reports the investigation of acoustic combustion instability experienced during repetitive ignition testing of a sub-scale LOX-methane rocket thrust chamber. The occurrence of resonant coupling between the LOX injectors and the combustion chamber acoustic modes was assessed from the experimental data recorded during the highly transient phase of operation from ignition up to around 2 s. A method was developed to model the evolution of acoustic properties in both the combustion chamber and the injectors during the transient period. For the LOX injectors, the Woods equation was used to estimate the speed of sound in the two-phase flow. The models were used to identify the corresponding mode frequencies in the unsteady pressure measurements, and show that the high-amplitude instability occurred when they intersected. Very close coupling of less than 3% frequency difference is required for high amplitudes to be observed. However, the condition was necessary but not sufficient for high amplitudes to be reached.