Application of x-ray lasers to probe high density plasmas

Conference · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:435489

Silva, L.B. da; Barbee, Jr, T W; Cauble, R ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States); and others

The reliability and characteristics of collisionally pumped soft x-ray laser make them ideal for a wide variety of plasma diagnostics. These systems now operate over a wavelength range extending from 35 to 400 {angstrom} 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 {Delta}{lambda}/{lambda}-10{sup {minus}4} making them the brightest xuv sources available. In this talk the author describes the use of x-ray lasers to probe high density plasmas using a variety of diagnostic techniques. Taking advantage of recently developed multilayer beamsplitters they have constructed and used a Mach-Zehnder interferometer operating at 155 {angstrom} to probe 1--3 mm size laser produced plasmas with peak electron densities of 4 {times} 10{sup 21} cm{sup {minus}3}. A comparison of the results with computer simulations will be presented. They 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 {micro}m spatial resolution. Results from these experiments as well as the use of x-ray laser moire deflectometry to measure the electron density profile in ICF hohlraums will be discussed.

• Sponsoring Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 435489
• Report Number(s): CONF-960634--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ELECTRON DENSITY
ICF DEVICES
LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA
PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
X-RAY LASERS