Feasibility of alpha particle measurement by CO2 laser Thomson scattering

The feasibility of CO2 laser Thomson scattering from a multicomponent burning plasma was evaluated for the measurement of the velocity distribution of D-T produced alpha particles. The density and velocity distribution of the alpha particles from their initial energy of 3.5 MeV down to near thermal energies may be measured by small angle (less than 10 deg) Thomson scattering. A computer simulation of the experiment indicates that a 100 MW pulsed laser combined with a bank of heterodyne receivers will be able to measure a scattered signal from the alpha particles with a post detection signal to noise ratio of 75 for an assumed alpha density of 7.5 x 10 deg to the 11th power/cu cm.