Transient ionization in plasmas produced by point-like irradiation of solid Al targets

Abstract

Time-resolved x-ray spectroscopy has been used to investigate ionization dynamics of a micrometer-sized nanosecond laser-plasma during the plasma start-up phase. Experimental results are modeled using two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations and time-dependent collisional-radiative calculations. The study clearly shows that, due to the rapid expansion cooling, x-ray emission originates predominantly from a well-localized plasma region characterized by rapidly evolving hydrodynamic conditions. In this region, ionization dynamics is found to depart substantially from the steady-state regime. The measurements provide clear evidence of this transient ionization regime showing good agreement with the time-dependent calculations. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics

Soft x-ray generation by a tabletop Nd:YAG/glass laser system

“…Laser induced plasma is a good radiator and visible, UV and x-radiation can be emitted by such hot plasma due to line transitions, radiative recombinations and bremsstrahlung radiation [24][25][26][27][28][29]. Radiative properties represent a classical example of non-interfering probe.…”