Dense Plasmas Produced with Ultra-Short and High-Intensity Laser Pulses for X-Ray Laser Research.
Abstract
A table-top sub-picosecond terawatt laser was used to study experimentally the atomic and plasma physics of plasmas that are relevant to the recombination and photo-pumping x-ray laser schemes. Experimentally, x-ray spectroscopy with simultaneous temporal and spectral resolution was used to characterize the line and continuum emission of soft x-rays emitted from a solid density plasma. Numerically, we developed our non-LTE time-dependent collisional-radiative numerical code, which was used to interpret the experimental results. It was found that the results depended critically on the laser contrast conditions, and that the x-ray pulsewidth could be arbitrarily adjusted by simply adjusting a single parameter, the laser intensity, and thus the peak temperature of the plasma. This novel ultrafast broadband radiation source in the soft x-ray region of the spectrum can be used for time-resolved dynamical studies in ultrafast science and pumping x-ray lasers. It was measured to be six orders of magnitude brighter, and three orders of magnitude shorter in pulse duration (less than one picosecond), than any existing synchrotron source.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 15, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA294417
Entities
People
- Donald P. Umstadter
- Gerard A. Mourou
- J. C. Keiffer
- M. Chaker
- S. Williamson
Organizations
- University of Michigan