We describe a new method for the polarization of an electret foil which has proved very convenient and yields a foil having very good performance in a microphone. The variations in the charge accumulation on the electret foil and its decay with time as well as the variation of the microphone sensitivity with different microphone parameterse.g. different thicknesses of the electret foil, different back plates and different polarization techniques has been investigated. The sensitivity of the home-made microphone is estimated as 1 mV/μbar. The working of this type of microphone and its comparison with a commercial microphone as used in a (laboratory made) single beam photoacoustic spectrometer is discussed.

A brief description of the photoacoustic spectrometer including microphone biasing and the photoacoustic cell is given. The photoacoustic spectra of some rare earth oxides in the form of powders have been recorded. It is seen that the atomic levels of triplyionized rare earths which are not fluorescent appear very prominently in the photoacoustic spectrum. The spectra for terbium and praseodymium oxides do not show clear peaks probably due to the presence of different stoichiometric forms.

The photoacoustic spectra of Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G), Rhodamine B (RhB) dyes and their mixtures were recorded at different concentrations. It is observed that in the mixture the photoacoustic signal increases due to excitation transfer from Rh6G to RhB in the wavelength region 480–530 nm. The excitation transfer rate estimated from these data show that resonance is dominant rather than the collisional transfer process.

Low temperature plasma parameters in a toroidal magnetic field are measured. The effect of an externally applied perpendicular electric field on the plasma parameters is studied. The lifetime of the plasma is measured in the presence and absence of the RF electric field. Decrease in the plasma lifetime in the presence of RF field is attributed to detrapping of the primary electrons to a larger volume. Plasma lifetime increases when a small vertical magnetic field is added to the toroidal magnetic field.

The transmission spectra of Rhodamine B and Rhodamine 6G dyes coated on silver island films for various thickness were recorded. A strong coupling between the silver particle plasma resonance and the dye molecules is observed. The absorption of dye molecules increases when the absorption band of individual dyes and silver particles overlaps. In higher silver film thicknesses, transmission increases. The theoretical calculation using Maxwell-Garnett theory and Wang and Kerker’s results qualitatively supports the observed phenomenon. A red shift in the absorption peak of dyes on silver surfaces in comparison to solution phase absorption peak indicates photobleaching.

Emission characteristics of a single heterostructure GaAs diode laser are reported using a simple driver circuit. It provides a single picosecond time duration optical pulse, a pulse train or a broad optical pulse depending on the amplitude and time duration of the electrical pump pulse. Results show that relaxation oscillation frequency depends on the amplitude of pumping current pulse as well as on some inherent property of diode laser, which seems to be the level of impurity in lasing medium. Variation of relaxation oscillation frequency with amplitude of current pulse shows only the qualitative agreement with the reported theoretical predictions.

This paper presents the dynamics as well as the stability of laser produced plasma expanding across the magnetic field. Observation of some high frequency fluctuations superimposed on ion saturation current along with structuring in the pin hole images of x-ray emitting plasma plume indicate the presence of instability in the plasma. Two type of slope in the variation of x-ray emission with laser intensity in the absence and presence of magnetic field shows appearance of different threshold intensity of laser corresponding to each magnetic field at which this instability or density fluctuation sets on. This instability has been identified as a large Larmor radius instability instead of classical Rayleigh-Taylor (R-T) instability.

An intense laser radiation (10¹² to 10¹¹ W/cm⁻²) focused on the solid target creates a hot (≥1 keV) and dense plasma having high ionization state. The multiple charged ions with high current densities produced during laser matter interaction have potential application in accelerators as an ion source. This paper presents generation and detection of highly stripped titanium ions (Ti) in laser produced plasma. An Nd:glass laser (KAMETRON) delivering 50 J energy (λ=0.53 µm) in 2.5 ns was focused onto a titanium target to produce plasma. This plasma was allowed to drift across a space of ∼3 m through a diagnostic hole in the focusing mirror before ions are finally detected with the help of electrostatic ion analyzer. Maximum current density was detected for the charge states of +16 and +17 of Ti ions for laser intensity of ∼10¹¹ W/cm⁻².