We report measurements of x-ray scattering cross sections for dense plasmas created by subjecting aluminum foils to strong laser-driven shocks. A narrow cone of quasimonochromatic x-rays at approximately 4.75 keV was used to probe the shocked part of the foil and scattered photons were detected with a CCD camera. The scattering cross section shows a clear peak, indicating diffraction from the plasma. Analysis and simulation of the data suggest that radiative heating and electron-ion energy exchange are important factors in the plasma production.
Photon yields for the 1s 2 -1s2p (He-α) transition of He-like ions have been measured for laser irradiated, thin foils of Ti, V and Fe. The laser pulses were of 0.527 µm wavelength and of either 80 or 300 ps duration. The data shows significant shot-to-shot variation but the Ti data is broadly consistent with previous results. In this work, we extend the previous results to include, new elements, longer pulse lengths and yields measured for emission from both surfaces of the foils. We compare our data to simulations using a hydrodynamic code and a collisional radiative model.
We present differential x-ray scattering cross sections for a radiatively heated plasma showing overall consistency, in both form and absolute value, with theoretical simulations. In particular, the evolution of the plasma from a strongly coupled high density phase to a lower density weakly coupled phase is quite clearly shown in both experiment and simulation. The success of this experiment shows that x-ray scattering has the potential to become an extremely useful diagnostic technique for dense plasma physics.
We review the potential of x-ray scattering as a dense plasma diagnostic and present data taken from experiments in which x-ray scattering from dense plasmas is developed as a diagnostic tool. In one type of experiment the scattered photons are detected as a function of angle using direct detection onto a CCD chip. Such experiments are designed primarily to observe the static ion-ion structure factor, which is expected to dominate the scattering for moderate to high Z plasmas at a few electronvolts temperature. In a second type of experiment we have used a curved crystal to observe spectrally resolved x-ray scattering at a fixed angle. This experiment was designed to observe the dynamical structure factor of the plasma.
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