Stark broadening measurements of Al(III) doublet lines in dense and optically-thin laser plasmas

Line emission profiles of doubly-ionized aluminium doublets at 360 and 570 nm are measured in a laser-produced plasma (n(e) = 0.2-1.6 x 10(19) cm(-3), kT = 3-8 eV) to study line broadening in dense and cold plasmas. The density and temperature of the plasma are measured independent of spectral measurements using interferometry, absorption and absolute emission diagnostics. Experimental line widths are obtained by least-squares fits to composite Lorentzian curves corresponding to both uniform slab approximation and integration over plasma density profiles. Comparisons with semi-empirical line width calculations agree to within experimental error of 20%. Copyright (C) 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd