Efficient laser-induced 6-8 keV x-ray production from iron oxide aerogel and foil-lined cavity targets
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)
- CEA DAM DIF, F-91297 Arpajon (France)
- General Atomics, San Diego, California 92121 (United States)
The performance of new iron-based laser-driven x-ray sources has been tested at the OMEGA laser facility for production of x rays in the 6.5-8.5 keV range. Two types of targets were experimentally investigated: low-density iron oxide aerogels (density 6-16 mg/cm{sup 3}) and stainless steel foil-lined cavity targets (steel thickness 1-5 {mu}m). The targets were irradiated by 40 beams of the OMEGA laser (500 J/beam, 1 ns pulse, wavelength 351 nm). All targets showed good coupling with the laser, with <5% of the incident laser light backscattered by the resulting plasma in all cases (typically <2.5%). The aerogel targets produced T{sub e}=2 to 3 keV, n{sub e}=0.12-0.2 critical density plasmas yielding a 40%-60% laser-to-x-ray total conversion efficiency (CE) (1.2%-3% in the Fe K-shell range). The foil cavity targets produced T{sub e}{approx} 2 keV, n{sub e}{approx} 0.15 critical density plasmas yielding a 60%-75% conversion efficiency (1.6%-2.2% in the Fe K-shell range). Time-resolved images illustrate that the volumetric heating of low-density aerogels allow them to emit a higher K-shell x-ray yield even though they contain fewer Fe atoms. However, their challenging fabrication process leads to a larger shot-to-shot variation than cavity targets.
- OSTI ID:
- 22086063
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 19, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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