Spectroscopic investigations of the nonequilibrium plasma and the charge flow in ion beam diodes

Non-perturbing high resolution spectroscopic diagnostic methods have been developed to reliably measure the temporal and spatial distributions of physical quantities in the strong-field region and in the plasmas in pulsed-power devices. The methods were employed to investigate the properties of the acceleration gap and the behavior of the highly dynamic nonequilibrium anode plasma in intense ion diodes. Conclusions on the electron density and current density in the diode gap, the magnetic field induced by the current flow, the plasma conductivity, plasma heating, plasma expansion, particle fluxes and velocity distributions in the plasma, and possible use in other pulsed-power configurations are discussed.