Measurements and calculations of halfraum radiation drives at the omega laser

Abstract

Thin walled gold halfraums are a common choice for producing x-ray drives in experiments at high-power laser facilities. At the Omega Laser, we use 10 kJ of laser energy in a two-pulse sequence to generate halfraum drive temperatures of 160-190 eV for ~3ns. This type of drive is well characterized and reproducible, with characterization of the drive radiation temperature typically performed using the Dante diagnostic.Additionally, calibrated Photoconductive Diamond Detectors (PCDs) are used to measure the drive when it is desirable to utilize the Dante elsewhere in the experiment.Measurements of halfraum drives from both Dante and PCDs are compared with calculations, with good agreement. This agreement lends the calculations a predictive capability in designing further experiments utilizing halfraum drives.