We study warm dense matter formed by subpicosecond laser irradiation at several 10(19) W/cm(2) of thin Ti foils using x-ray spectroscopy with high spectral (E/DeltaE approximately 15,000) and one-dimensional spatial (Deltax=13.5 microm) resolutions. Ti Kalpha doublets modeled by line-shape calculations are compared with Abel-inverted single-pulse experimental spectra and provide radial distributions of the bulk-electron temperature and the absolute-photon number Kalpha yield in the target interiors. A core with approximately 40 eV extends homogeneously up to ten times the laser-focus size. The spatial distributions of the bulk-electron temperature and Kalpha yield are strongly correlated.

Modeling of x-ray spectra emitted from a solid-density strongly coupled plasma formed in short-duration, high-power laser-matter interactions represents a highly challenging task due to extreme conditions found in these experiments. In this paper we present recent progress in the modeling and analysis of Kα emission from solid-density laser-produced titanium plasmas. The selfconsistent modeling is based on collisional-radiative calculations that comprise many different processes and effects, such as satellite formation and blending, plasma polarization, Stark broadening, solid-density quantum effects and self-absorption. A rather strong dependence of the Kα shape on the bulk electron temperature is observed. Preliminary analysis of recently obtained experimental data shows a great utility of the calculations, allowing for inferring a temperature distribution of the bulk electrons from a single-shot measurement.

The emitted K α-spectra of moderately ionized titanium radiators in a medium are used to determine plasma temperature and composition in electron heated target regions. A theoretical treatment of spectral line profiles using selfconsistent Hartree-Fock and ion sphere model calculations to determine the influence of plasma polarization is applied. We confirm the importance of excited emitter states for line shape modeling.

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The features of chlorine K-lines have been investigated to develop X-ray probes for Compton scattering on warm dense plasmas. The shapes of these spectral lines have been studied at different laser energies by irradiation of thin saran foils by an intense ultra-short-pulse laser beam. The observed positions of Kα and K β lines undergo a red shift due to a laser induced plasma environment. With increasing intensities the shift changes direction and turns into a blue shift caused by a higher contribution of K-transitions occuring in further excited or ionized atoms. A theoretical approach based on the self-consistent ion sphere model is outlined to describe this inversion. Plasma polarization effects are taken into account as well as different ionization stages of the X-ray emitter within a warm dense plasma. Calculations using an improved ion sphere ansatz show good agreement with observations of the line shifts. ExperimentK α and K β lines serve as narrow keV X-ray sources which can be used, e.g., for diagnostics of dense plasmas [1][2][3]. Recently, X-ray spectroscopy has been performed at the EUROPA LASER FACILITY at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Thin saran foils (C 7 H 8 Cl 3 N) are irradiated by a terawatt ultra-short laser pulse. Hence neutral chlorine is excited or ionized. Filling of vacant energy levels in the lowest shell creates characteristic X-ray emission. The transitions 2p → 1s and 3p → 1s are referred to as K α and K β , respectively. EUROPA is a 100 fs Ti:Sapphire laser with a wavelength of 800 nm, a focal spot size of about 28 µm and an energy range from 100 mJ to 1.2 J. A graphite (HOPG) crystal in the mosaic focusing mode has been applied to disperse the scattered radiation onto a charged coupled device (CCD). The spectroscopic resolution was on the order of 10 −3 . Details are given in [4], see also [5]. K α and K β are measured at different laser energies, see Fig. 1. At low irradiation, the lines undergo a red shift. At increasing intensities blue satellites rise, resulting in an effective broadening of the line with respect to the limited spectral resolution. Shifts of the average line positions as function of laser energy are shown in Fig. 2. The position of the isolated line ∆E = 0 is extrapolated. Note that due to the chemical shift the K-lines at zero laser intensity might deviate from the free atom K-line position, see also [6]. Estimated errors of data are of the order of about 0.2 eV. That is particularly problematic for the measured shift of the K α line, since it is of the same order of magnitude as the estimated error. At low energies the average line positions are red shifted, but with increasing laser energies the shifts turn and the average line positions get shifted back to higher energies (blue shift). A possible interpretation of this inversion of the line shift with increasing laser energy can be given by many particle effects. In this work we focus on the influence of the plasma environment in the hot region created by the laser pulse. As well known, hot el...

Modifications of K-line profiles due to a warm dense plasma environment are a suitable tool for plasma diagnostics. We focus on Si Kα emissions due to an electron transfer from 2P to 1S shell. Besides 2P fine structure effects we also consider the influence of excited and higher ionized emitters. Generally spoken, a plasma of medium temperature and high density (warm dense matter) is created from bulk Si the greater part of atoms is ionized. The high energy of Kα x-rays is necessary to penetrate and investigate the Si sample. The plasma effect influences the many-particle system resulting in an energy shift due to electron-ion and electron-electron interaction. In our work we focus on pure Si using LS coupling. Non-perturbative wave functions are calculated as well as ionization energies, binding energies and relevant emission energies using the chemical ab initio code Gaussian 03. The plasma effect is considered within a perturbative approach to the Hamiltonian. Using Roothaan-Hartree-Fock wave functions we calculate the screening effect within an ion-sphere model. The different excitation and ionization probabilities of the electronic L-shell and M-shell lead to a charge state distribution. Using this distribution and a Lorentz profile convolution with a Gaussian instrument function we calculate spectral line profiles depending on the plasma parameters.

Key words Dense plasmas, dielectric function, dynamic structure factor, Mott effect, metal-nonmetal transition. PACS 52.25Mq, 52.27Gr, 52.27Lw, 52.38DxLinear response theory is used to describe the response of a charged particle system to external electromagnetic fields. Properties such as the polarization function, the dynamical conductivity and the absorption coefficient are expressed in terms of equilibrium correlation functions. Many-particle theory is used to treat correlations in the Coulomb system. The systematic inclusion of bound states is shown. Modifications due to the influence of a dense medium lead to the dissolution (Mott effect) of bound states, which is adequately described in terms of the single-particle spectral function.

We report on the composition of warm, dense plasmas of M-shell ions. Assuming local thermal equilibrium, the abundance of different ionization stages is given by a set of coupled Saha-equations. In order to avoid discontinuities at the Mott density, the partition functions have to account for pressure ionization due to continuum lowering consistently. The Planck-Larkin renormalization of bound and scattering states is well elaborated for hydrogenic systems. This paper shows the consistent extension to moderately ionized Mid-Z elements. We present results for solid-density polymere and titanium plasmas.