Resolving microstructures in Z pinches with intensity interferometry

Abstract

Nearly 60 years ago, Hanbury Brown and Twiss R. Q. Twiss, Nature 178, 1046 (1956)] succeeded in measuring the 30 nrad angular diameter of Sirius using a new type of interferometry that exploited the interference of photons independently emitted from different regions of the stellar disk. Its basis was the measurement of intensity correlations as a function of detector spacing, with no beam splitting or preservation of phase information needed. Applied to Z pinches, X pinches, or laser-produced plasmas, this method could potentially provide spatial resolution under one micron. A quantitative analysis based on the work of Purcell [E. M. Purcell, Nature 178, 1449(1956] reveals that obtaining adequate statistics from x-ray interferometry of a Z-pinch microstructure would require using the highest-current generators available. However, using visible light interferometry would reduce the needed photon count and could enable its use on sub-MA machines. V C 2014 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx.

Preface to Special Topic Section: Radiation from High Energy Density Plasmas

“…Often in pinches, one observes microstructures, whose extent is uncertain. Apruzese et al 16 proposes using intensity interferometry as a diagnostic to spatially resolve submicron features. The concept was initially used to measure the diameter of a star, so here is a case, where astrophysics could feedback on HED laboratory plasmas.…”

“…The first international workshop on Radiation from High Energy Density Plasmas (RHEDP) was held on March [15][16][17][18]2011 in Reno, NV. Twelve presentations from this workshop were published among the articles within volume 8 in the journal High Energy Density Physics.…”