K{sub α} and bremsstrahlung x-ray radiation backlighter sources from short pulse laser driven silver targets as a function of laser pre-pulse energy

Journal Article · Sat Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4865230· OSTI ID:22252015

Jarrott, L. C.; Mariscal, D.; McGuffey, C.; Beg, F. N. ^[1]; Kemp, A. J.; Divol, L.; Chen, C.; Hey, D.; Maddox, B.; Hawreliak, J.; Park, H. -S.; Remington, B.; MacPhee, A. ^[2]; Westover, B. ^[1]; Suggit, M. ^[3]; Wei, M. S. ^[4]

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1. Center for Energy Research, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093 (United States)
2. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)
3. Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU (United Kingdom)
4. General Atomics, P.O. Box 85608, San Diego, California 92186-5608 (United States)

Measurements of silver K-shell and bremsstrahlung emission from thin-foil laser targets as a function of laser prepulse energy are presented. The silver targets were chosen as a potential 22 keV backlighter source for the National Ignition Facility Experiments. The targets were irradiated by the Titan laser with an intensity of 8 × 10{sup 17} W/cm{sup 2} with 40 ps pulse length. A secondary nanosecond timescale laser pulse with controlled, variable energy was used to emulate the laser prepulse. Results show a decrease in both K{sub α} and bremsstrahlung yield with increasing artificial prepulse. Radiation hydrodynamic modeling of the prepulse interaction determined that the preplasma and intact target fraction were different in the three prepulse energies investigated. Interaction of the short pulse laser with the resulting preplasma and target was then modeled using a particle-in-cell code PSC which explained the experimental results. The relevance of this work to future Advanced Radiographic Capability laser x-ray backlighter sources is discussed.

• OSTI ID: 22252015
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 21, Issue 3; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
BREMSSTRAHLUNG
IRRADIATION
K SHELL
LASER TARGETS
LASERS
PULSES
SILVER
X RADIATION