Editing Plasma diagnostics (section)

===Thomson scattering===
Scattering of laser light from the electrons in a plasma is known as [[Thomson scattering]]. The electron temperature can be determined very reliably from the [[Doppler broadening]] of the laser line. The electron density can be determined from the intensity of the scattered light, but a careful absolute calibration is required. Although Thomson scattering is dominated by scattering from electrons, since the electrons interact with the ions, in some circumstances information on the ion temperature can also be extracted.