Pulsed electrostatic probes as a diagnostic for transient plasmas.

A pulsed, electrostatic probe data acquisition system, applicable to transient or noisy plasmas, is presented. The system digitally records a probe characteristic, and its first and second derivatives. The latter are shown to be proportional to the projected electron energy distribution function, and the isotropic electron energy distribution function, respectively. The acquisition system and its experimental accuracy are discussed. Using the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory 10-A neutral beam ion source, several examples demonstrating the systems application to transient plasmas are given.