Emerging trends in X-ray spectroscopic studies of plasma produced by intense laser beams

Abstract

This article describes the study of rapidly evolving hot dense plasma, created by focusing high intensity laser pulses on to solid target surface, carried out at RRCAT, Indore. The basic concept of intense laser matter interaction and x-ray emission from plasma is briefly presented. The study of ionization dynamics of plasma by measuring x-ray yield of different ionic line radiation from the plasma produced by laser pulses from nanoseconds to femtosecond duration is discussed. The experimental signature of radiation transport in plasma is observed from the measurement of x-ray yield in keV spectral region from the mix-Z target. The transient conditions in plasma created by intense ultra-short laser were identified by simultaneous measurements of the inner-shell and the ionic line radiation. The generation and optimization of monochromatic K-x-ray source by intense femtosecond laser pulse were performed. A setup for ultrashort x-ray probe and pump technique developed to study the time resolved x-ray diffraction from a sample undergoing laser generated shock is described. The challenges and future outlook in this field is summarized.