Abstract
We have used a tabletop soft-x-ray laser and a wave-front division interferometer to probe the plasma of a pinch discharge. A very compact capillary discharge-pumped Ne-like Ar laser emitting at 46.9 nm was combined with a wave division interferometer based on Lloyd's mirror and Sc-Si multilayer-coated optics to map the electron density in the cathode region of the discharge. This demonstration of the use of tabletop soft-x-ray laser in plasma interferometry could lead to the widespread use of these lasers in the diagnostics of dense plasmas.
Highlights
The ability to produce time-resolved two-dimensional maps of the electron density in dense plasmas is of major interest in understanding their dynamics, and validating and improving complex numerical plasma hydrodynamic codes
This demonstration of the use of tabletop soft-x-ray laser in plasma interferometry could lead to the widespread use of these lasers in the diagnostics of dense plasmas. ͓S1063-651X99͒12507-8͔
It comprises a tabletop capillary discharge laser that produces a ϭ46.9-nm probe beam, a capacitive discharge that generates the transient plasma that is the object of the study, and a wave-front division interferometer consisting of a grazing incidence mirror and two Sc-Si multilayer mirrors positioned at near-normal incidence
Summary
The ability to produce time-resolved two-dimensional maps of the electron density in dense plasmas is of major interest in understanding their dynamics, and validating and improving complex numerical plasma hydrodynamic codes. That amplitude division interferometer was implemented utilizing thin multilayer beamsplitters and multilayer-coated mirrors developed for that wavelength In those experiments the optical laser beam that pumps the soft-x-ray laser and the laser that produces the high-density plasma are produced by the same Nd:glass laser systemNovaand, the softx-ray laser pulse and the plasma generation are perfectly synchronized, a situation that is ideal to probe the very dense. We have used these tools to map the electron density in the cathode region of a moderately dense pinch plasma with high spatialϷ10 mand temporal0.6–0.7 nsresolution This experiment constitutes the demonstration of the use of a tabletop soft-x-ray laser and of a wave-front division interferometer in plasma diagnostics.
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