Extreme ultraviolet probing of laser imprint in a thin foil using an x-ray laser backlighter

Journal Article · Tue Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1996 · Review of Scientific Instruments

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1147747· OSTI ID:451884

Kalantar, D H; Da Silva, L B; Glendinning, S G; Remington, B A; Weber, F; Weber, S V ^[1]; Key, M H; Kim, N S; Neely, D; Wolfrum, E ^[2]; Zhang, J; Wark, J S ^[3]; Demir, A; Lin, J; Smith, R; Tallents, G J ^[4]; Lewis, C L; MacPhee, A; Warwick, J ^[5]; Knauer, J P ^[6]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California (United States)
2. Central Laser Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot (United Kingdom)
3. Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford (United Kingdom)
4. Department of Physics, University of Essex, Colchester (United Kingdom)
5. Department of Pure and Applied Physics, Queens University of Belfast, Belfast (United Kingdom)
6. Laboratory of Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York (United States)

For direct drive inertial confinement fusion, a capsule is imploded by directly illuminating the surface with laser light. Beam smoothing and uniformity of illumination affect the seeding of instabilities at the ablation front. We have developed a technique for studying the imprint of a laser beam on a thin foil using an x-ray laser as an extreme ultraviolet (XUV) backlighter. We use multilayer XUV optics to relay the x-ray laser onto the directly driven foil, and then to image the foil modulation onto a charged coupled device camera. This technique allows us to measure small fractional variations in the foil thickness. We have measured the modulation due to imprint from a low intensity 0.35 {mu}m drive beam incident on a 3 {mu}m Si foil using an yttrium x-ray laser on Nova. We present results from a similar technique to measure the imprinted modulation due to a low intensity 0.53 {mu}m drive beam incident on a 2 {mu}m Al foil using a germanium x-ray laser at the Vulcan facility. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 451884
• Report Number(s): CONF-960543--
• Journal Information: Review of Scientific Instruments, Journal Name: Review of Scientific Instruments Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 68; ISSN 0034-6748; ISSN RSINAK
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ABLATION
ALUMINIUM
CCD image sensors
EXPLODING WIRES
EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
FOILS
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
PLASMA INSTABILITY
SILICON
X-RAY LASERS
fusion reactor ignition
plasma inertial confinement
plasma production by laser