Quasi-periodic Fluctuations and Chromospheric Evaporation in a Solar Flare Ribbon Observed by Hinode/EIS, IRIS, and RHESSI

The Hinode/Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) obtained rapid cadence (11.2 s) EUV stare spectra of an M7.3 flare ribbon in AR 12036 on 2014 April 18. Quasi-periodic (P ≈ 75.6 ± 9.2 s) intensity fluctuations occurred in emission lines of O IV, Mg VI, Mg vii, Si vii, Fe xiv, and Fe xvi during the flare's impulsive rise, and ended when the maximum intensity in Fe xxiii was reached. The profiles of the O IV-Fe xvi lines reveal that they were all redshifted during most of the interval of quasi-periodic intensity fluctuations, while the Fe xxiii profile revealed multiple components including one or two highly blueshifted ones. This indicates that the flare underwent explosive chromospheric evaporation during its impulsive rise. Fluctuations in the relative Doppler velocities were seen, but their amplitudes were too subtle to extract significant quasi-periodicities. RHESSI detected 25-100 keV hard-X-ray sources in the ribbon near the EIS slit's pointing position during the peaks in the EIS intensity fluctuations. The observations are consistent with a series of energy injections into the chromosphere by nonthermal particle beams. Electron densities derived with Fe xiv (4.6 × 10¹⁰ cm^-3) and Mg vii (7.8 × 10⁹ cm^-3) average line intensity ratios during the interval of quasi-periodic intensity fluctuations, combined with the radiative loss function of an optically thin plasma, yield radiative cooling times of 32 s at 2.0 × 10⁶ K, and 46 s at 6.3 × 10⁵ K (about half the quasi-period); assuming Fe xiv's density for Fe xxiii yields a radiative cooling time of 10³ s (13 times the quasi-period) at 1.4 × 10⁷ K.