Application of X-ray lasers to probe high density plasmas

• Main Authors: Da Silva, L.B., Barbee, T.W., Cauble, R., Celliers, P., Kalantar, D.H., Key, M.H., Libby, S., Matthews, D.L., Moreno, J.C., Trebes, J.E., Wan, A.S., Weber, F.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: 70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; ELECTRON DENSITY; ICF DEVICES; Laser applications; LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA; Nonhomogeneous media; Plasma applications; Plasma density; PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS; Plasma sources; Plasma x-ray sources; Probes; Pump lasers; X-RAY LASERS
• ISSN: 0730-9244; 2576-7208
• DOI: 10.1109/PLASMA.1996.551619

Summary form only given. The reliability and characteristics of collisionally pumped soft X-ray lasers make them ideal for a wide variety of plasma diagnostics. These systems now operate over a wavelength range extending from 35 to 400 Å, and have output energies as high as 10 mJ in 15 ps pulses. The beam divergence of these lasers is less than 15 mrad and they have a typical linewidth of Δλ/λ-10/sup -4/ making them the brightest XUV sources available. In this talk I'll describe our use of X-ray lasers to probe high density plasmas using a variety of diagnostic techniques. Taking advantage of recently developed multilayer beamsplitters we have constructed and used a Mach-Zehnder interferometer operating at 155 Å to probe 1-3 mm size laser produced plasmas with peak electron densities of 4×10/sup 21/ cm/sup -3/. A comparison of our results with computer simulations is presented. We have also used X-ray lasers and a multilayer mirror imaging system to study hydrodynamic imprinting of laser speckle patterns on directly driven thin foils with 1-2 μm spatial resolution. Results from these experiments as well as our use of X-ray laser moire deflectometry to measure the electron density profile in ICF hohlraums are discussed.