Photodetachment diagnostic techniques for measuring negative ion densities and temperatures in plasmas

Photodetachment diagnostic techniques can help determine densities and temperatures of negative ions in a variety of scientific devices in which these ions are one of the major charged particle species. This method has been extensively used in the development of hydrogen negative ion sources as well as other devices. In order to obtain spatial resolution, a photodetachment diagnostic technique is used with an electrostatic probe that detects the currents of photodetached electrons.