21nm x-ray laser Thomson scattering of laser-heated exploding foil plasmas
Recent experiments were carried out on the Prague Asterix Laser System (PALS) towards the demonstration of a soft x-ray laser Thomson scattering diagnostic for a laser-produced exploding foil. The Thomson probe utilized the Ne-like zinc x-ray laser which was double-passed to deliver {approx}1 mJ of focused energy at 21.2 nm wavelength and lasting {approx}100 ps. The plasma under study was heated single-sided using a Gaussian 300-ps pulse of 438-nm light (3{omega} of the PALS iodine laser) at laser irradiances of 10{sup 13}-10{sup 14} W cm{sup -2}. Electron densities of 10{sup 20}-10{sup 22} cm{sup -3} and electron temperatures from 200 to 500 eV were probed at 0.5 or 1 ns after the peak of the heating pulse during the foil plasma expansion. A flat-field 1200 line mm{sup -1} variable-spaced grating spectrometer with a cooled charge-coupled device readout viewed the plasma in the forward direction at 30{sup o} with respect to the x-ray laser probe. We show results from plasmas generated from {approx}1 {micro}m thick targets of Al and polypropylene (C{sub 3}H{sub 6}). Numerical simulations of the Thomson scattering cross-sections will be presented. These simulations show electron peaks in addition to a narrow ion feature due to collective (incoherent) Thomson scattering. The electron features are shifted from the frequency of the scattered radiation approximately by the electron plasma frequency {+-}{omega}{sub pe} and scale as n{sub e}{sup 1/2}.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 929186
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-PROC-403362; TRN: US0804080
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Presented at: Soft X-ray Lasers and Applications VII, San Diego, CA, United States, Aug 29 - Aug 30, 2007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION
CHARGE-COUPLED DEVICES
CROSS SECTIONS
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ELECTRONS
HEATING
IODINE LASERS
LANGMUIR FREQUENCY
LASERS
PLASMA EXPANSION
POLYPROPYLENE
PROBES
RADIATIONS
SPECTROMETERS
TARGETS
THOMSON SCATTERING
WAVELENGTHS
X-RAY LASERS
ZINC