X-ray generation in a cavity heated by 1.3- or 0.44- microm laser light. III. Comparison of the experimental results with theoretical predictions for x-ray confinement.

Abstract

Radiation confinement in laser-heated gold cavities is analyzed on the basis of self-similar solutions of the hydrodynamic equations. The analysis is extended to include radiation losses through holes in the cavity. The possibility that a conversion layer on the inner wall of the cavity contributes to the measured radiation is also taken into account. The comparison with experiments performed at laser wavelengths of 0.44 and 1.3 \ensuremath{\mu}m with the Asterix iodine laser shows reasonable agreement with the theoretical predictions. The major difficulty in the comparison is the lack of detailed information about the conversion of laser light into x rays, especially in the 1.3-\ensuremath{\mu}m experiments.