Infrared absorption imaging of 2D supersonic jet expansions: Free expansion, cluster formation, and shock wave patterns

Abstract

N2O/He gas mixtures are expanded through a 10 × 0.5 mm(2) slit nozzle and imaged by direct absorption vibrational spectroscopy, employing a HgCdTe focal plane array detector after interferometric modulation. N2O cluster formation in the free supersonic expansion is visualized. The expansion structure behind the frontal shock is investigated as a function of background pressure. At high pressures, a sequence of stationary density peaks along a narrow directed flow channel is characterized. The potential of the technique for the elucidation of aggregation mechanisms is emphasized.