Error Analysis of Integrated Absorbance for TDLAS in a Nonuniform Flow Field

As an effective optical diagnosis method, tunable diode-laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) has increasingly moved to examine nonuniform flows, such as two-dimensional combustion diagnosis. To investigate the effect of nonuniformity along the line of sight in a measurement using TDLAS, the integrated absorbance (IA, the key intermediate quantity in TDLAS) error was quantified. The error distribution is obtained from the line-shape parameters through the comprehensive analysis of the line-shape function and the fitting method. The effects of the fitting function and the absorption line overlap are also considered. A general method for estimating the error is given. The work illustrates the applicability of TDLAS technology in nonuniform flow fields and provides input parameters for the evaluation of tunable diode laser absorption tomography error.

Line-shape broadening of an autoionizing state in helium at high XUV intensity

We study the interaction of intense extreme ultraviolet (XUV) light with the 2s2p doubly excited state in helium. In addition to previously understood energy-level and phase shifts, high XUV intensities may lead to other absorption line shape distortions. Here, we report on experimental transient-absorption spectroscopy results on the 2s2p line width modification in helium in intense stochastic XUV fields. A few-level model simulation is realized to investigate the origins of this effect. We find that the line shape broadening is connected to the strong coupling of the ground state to the 2s2p doubly excited state which is embedded in the ionization continuum. As the broadening takes place for intensities lower than for other strong-coupling processes, e.g. observing asymmetry changes of the absorption profile, this signature can be identified already in an intermediate intensity regime. These findings are in general relevant for resonant inner shell transitions in nonlinear experiments with XUV and x-ray photon energies at high intensity.