Knowledge Bank

CARS is shown to be an extremely important analytical tool for probing gas molecules in electrical discharges and combustion systems. The successful use of CARS to measure vibrational temperatures of electrically discharged $D2$ in an experimental $D2$-HCl V-V energy transfer laser will be discussed first. This technique is also shown to be a powerful means of making temperature profile and number density measurements of species in flames and other combustion systems. Measurements made in a calibrated flat flame burner will be discussed.