Dense plasmas produced with ultra-short and high-intensity laser pulses for x-ray laser research. Final technical report, 1 May 1991-30 April 1994

Technical Report · Mon May 15 00:00:00 EDT 1995

OSTI ID:118079

Umstadter, D P; Mourou, G A; Williamson, S; Chaker, M; Keiffer, J C

A table-top sub-picosecond terawatt laser was used to study experimentally the atomic and plasma physics of plasmas that are relevant to the recombination and photo-pumping x-ray laser schemes. Experimentally, x-ray spectroscopy with simultaneous temporal and spectral resolution was used to characterize the line and continuum emission of soft x-rays emitted from a solid density plasma. Numerically, we developed our non-LTE time-dependent collisional-radiative numerical code, which was used to interpret the experimental results. It was found that the results depended critically on the laser contrast conditions, and that the x-ray pulsewidth could be arbitrarily adjusted by simply adjusting a single parameter, the laser intensity, and thus the peak temperature of the plasma. This novel ultrafast broadband radiation source in the soft x-ray region of the spectrum can be used for time-resolved dynamical studies in ultrafast science and pumping x-ray lasers. It was measured to be six orders of magnitude brighter, and three orders of magnitude shorter in pulse duration (less than one picosecond), than any existing synchrotron source.

• Research Organization: Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI (United States). Ultrafast Science Lab.
• OSTI ID: 118079
• Report Number(s): AD-A--294417/1/XAB; CNN: Contract N00014-91-K-2005
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
BRIGHTNESS
LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA
PROGRESS REPORT
PULSE RISE TIME
X-RAY SOURCES
X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY