Thomson scattering diagnostics of the plasma generated in a hollow anode with a ferroelectric plasma source

Thomson scattering of a laser beam was applied to study the plasma parameters inside a hollow anode having a ferroelectric plasma source incorporated in it. This method allowed avoiding difficulties related to spectroscopical measurements in the case of unknown electron energy distribution. It was found that the electron density and energy of the ferroelectric plasma are similar to 10(15) cm(-3) and <= 5 eV, respectively, and the density of the hollow anode bulk plasma is similar to 6x10(13) cm(-3). Applying an accelerating pulse for electron extraction from the bulk plasma leads to an increase in the electron density and energy of the ferroelectric plasma up to 6x10(16) cm(-3) and <= 20 eV, respectively.