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We present an indirect method of estimating the strength of a shock wave, allowing on line monitoring of its reproducibility in each laser shot. This method is based on a shot-to-shot measurement of the X-ray emission from the ablated plasma by a high resolution, spatially resolved focusing spectrometer. An optical pump laser with energy of 1.0 J and pulse duration of ∼660 ps was used to irradiate solid targets or foils with various thicknesses containing Oxygen, Aluminum, Iron, and Tantalum. The high sensitivity and resolving power of the X-ray spectrometer allowed spectra to be obtained on each laser shot and to control fluctuations of the spectral intensity emitted by different plasmas with an accuracy of ∼2%, implying an accuracy in the derived electron plasma temperature of 5%-10% in pump-probe high energy density science experiments. At nano- and sub-nanosecond duration of laser pulse with relatively low laser intensities and ratio Z/A∼0.5, the electron temperature follows Te∼Ilas2/3. Thus, measurements of the electron plasma temperature allow indirect estimation of the laser flux on the target and control its shot-to-shot fluctuation. Knowing the laser flux intensity and its fluctuation gives us the possibility of monitoring shot-to-shot reproducibility of shock wave strength generation with high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We irradiated the soft x-ray laser (SXRL) pulses having a wavelength of 13.9 nm, a duration time of 7 ps, and fluences of up to 27 mJ/cm2 to aluminum (Al) surface. After the irradiation process, the modified surface was observed with the visible microscope, the scanning electron microscope, and the atomic force microscope. The surface modifications caused by the SXRL pulses were clearly seen, and it was found that the conical structures having about 70-150 nm in diameters were formed under a single pulse shot. The conical structures were formed in the features with the average depth of about 40 nm, and this value was in accordance with the attenuation length of the SXRL beam for Al. However, those conical structures were deconstructed under the multiple pulse shots exposure. Thermomechanical modeling of SXRL laser interaction with Al surface, which explains nanostructure surface modification, was provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays charged-coupled device (CCD) detectors are widely used for the registration of multicharged ions x-ray spectra. These spectra are generated in a plasma during interaction of ultrashort, ultraintense laser pulses with solid targets. Strong parasitic radiation from the plasma affects CCD detectors and contaminates resulting spectra, so that spectral features can be completely covered by noise even during measurements with a very short accumulation time. In this work we propose a “mean to median” (M2M) algorithm for noise suppression in femtosecond laser plasma x-ray spectra. Series of spectra is necessary for the identification of corrupted data points by the developed method. The algorithm was tested with model spectra which reflect main features of experimental data. In practice we used it for extracting information about spectral lines of Ne-like Fe ions and He-like Al ions which allowed us to calculate plasma parameters. It is demonstrated that M2M method is able to clean spectra with more than 10% of corrupted pixels. Fluctuations in intensity of spectral lines induced by laser instability do not affect validity of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental studies on the formation of highly charged ions of medium-Z elements using femtosecond laser pulses with different contrast levels were carried out. Multiply charged Fe ions were generated by laser pulses with 35 fs duration and an intensity exceeding 10 W/cm. Using high-resolution X-ray spectroscopic methods, bulk electron temperature of the generated plasma has been identified. It is shown that the presence of a laser pre-pulse at a contrast level of 10-10 with respect to the main pulse drastically decreases the degree of Fe ionization. We conclude that an effective source of energetic, multiply charged moderate and high- Z ions based on femtosecond laser-plasma interactions can be created only using laser pulses of ultra-high contrast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental and theoretical investigations of aluminum (Al) and gold (Au) surface modification by soft X-ray laser pulse are presented. Well-polished samples of Al and Au are irradiated by ps-duration pulse with wavelength of 13.9 nm at the energy range of 24-72 nJ. Differences in the melting and the ablation processes for those materials are observed. It is shown that at low laser pulse energy, the nanoscale ripples on the surface may be induced by melting without following ablation. In that case, the nanoscale changes in the surface are caused by splash of molten metal under gradient of fluence. At higher laser pulse energy, the ablation process occurs and craters are formed on the surface. However, the melting determines the size of the modified surface at all ranges of the laser energies. For interpretation of experimental results, the atomistic simulations of melting and ablation processes in Al and Au are provided. The calculated threshold fluencies for melting and ablation are well consistent with measured ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the use of a laser-based electron gun for applications in transmission electron radiography and microscopy at electron energies up to 2MeV. This new approach holds the promise to overcome some limitations of existing conventional electron guns at high beam energies especially for ultrafast applications. Our laser-electron gun is based on titanium-sapphire, ultrashort pulse lasers to drive electron acceleration in a plasma. The focused laser pulse travels in a tailored Ar gas target and accelerates electrons to MeV energy in less than a millimetre. As a first application, we use this electron beam to perform contact transmission electron radiography of cm-scale thin and thick samples. We obtain transmission electron radiography of organic and inorganic dense objects over a field of view more than 50 mm wide. The images are well exposed and show details of both thick and thin samples. The spatial resolution for the current geometrical configuration was found to be approximately 60 µm and was limited by geometrical effects combined with the intrinsic detector resolution and diffusion in the sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A short review of our experimental studies on generation of photon and particle beams in submicron clusters irradiated by intense, high-contrast (∼ 108-1010) femtosecond laser pulses is presented. It is shown that highlyefficient laser-cluster interaction allows creating bright sources of X-ray, high-energy electron and ion beams. The examples of applications of femtosecond-laser-produced cluster plasmas (FLPCP) for X-ray and ion beams radiography are presented. (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the interactions between picosecond soft x-ray laser (SXRL) beams and material surfaces, gold (Au), copper (Cu), and silicon (Si) surfaces were irradiated with SXRL pulses having a wavelength of 13.9 nm and a duration of ∼7 ps. Following irradiation, the surfaces of the substrates were observed using a scanning electron microscope and an atomic force microscope. With single pulse irradiation, ripple-like structures were formed on the Au and Cu surfaces. These structures were different from previously investigated conical structures formed on an Al surface. In addition, it was confirmed that the development of modified structures, i.e., growth of hillocks on the Au and Cu surfaces, was observed after multiple SXRL pulse exposures. However, on the Si surface, deep holes that seemed to be melted structures induced by the accumulation of multiple pulses of irradiations were found. Therefore, it was concluded that SXRL beam irradiation of various material surfaces causes different types of surface modifications, and the changes in the surface behaviors are attributed to the differences in the elemental properties, such as the attenuation length of x-ray photons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, a new field of application of optically stimulated luminescence of color centers (CCs) in lithium fluoride (LiF) crystals was proposed - using them for high-performance neutron imaging - and promising results were obtained (Matsubayashi et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods A 622, 637 (2010) and Matsubayashi et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods A 651, 90 (2011)). Here we present the overview of main findings, which clearly demonstrated that the LiF crystal performs efficiently as neutron imaging detector in areas, where a high spatial resolution with a high image gradation resolution is needed. It was shown that the obtained neutron images are almost free from granular noises, have spatial resolution of ∼ 6 μm, and have practically linear response with the dynamic range of at least 103. It was also found that the LiF crystal detector offers a fairly good sensitivity. Moreover, detailed evaluation using a standard sensitivity indicator for neutron radiography showed that two holes with less than 2% transmittance differences could be distinguished. Additionally, we recently demonstrated that the high resolution neutron imaging with LiF crystals could be useful for quantitative characterizations of neutron sources and electric devices, comprising of low-Z elements, for example, such as fuel cells. All of this gives new opportunity for microns scale spatial resolution imaging by neutrons (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monochromatic soft X-ray femtosecond pulses of the Free Electron Laser (FEL) with wavelengths of 17.2-61.5 nm were applied for measurements of optical features of point defects photoluminescence in LiF crystals. It was observed that peak of photoluminescence spectra appears near 530 nm and is associated with emission of F3+ centers. Our results suggest that a shortening of the applied laser pulses down to pico - or femtosecond duration causes redistribution of photolumi-nescence peak intensity from the red to the green part of the spectra and does not depend on the energy of EUV or X-ray photons. Dependence of peak intensity of photoluminescence spectra on the fluence of FEL radiation was measured. Even for relatively high fluencies a quenching phenomenon was not observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spectrum variation and the coherent properties of the high-order harmonics (HOH) generated by an oscillating electron spikes formed at the joint of the boundaries of a cavity and a bow wave, which are created by a relativistically self-focusing laser in underdense gas jet plasma, are investigated. This new mechanism for HOH generation efficiently produces emission from ultraviolet up to the XUV 'water window' spectral range. To characterize such source in the wide spectral range a diffraction imaging technique is applied. High spatial resolution EUV and soft X-ray LiF film detector have been used for precise measurements of diffraction patterns. The measurements under observation angle of 8° to the axis of laser beam propagation have been performed. The diffraction patterns were observed on the detector clearly, when the square mesh was placed at the distance of 500 mm from the output of plasma and at the distance of 27.2 mm in front of the detector. It is shown that observed experimental patterns are well consistent with modeled ones for theoretical HOH spectrum, provided by particle-in-cell simulations of a relativistic-irradiance laser pulse interaction with underdense plasma (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of self-absorption of X-ray spectral lines have been experimentally observed in the plasma of cluster targets. It has been shown that, since a cluster target is condensed in the femtosecond time scale and gaseous in the picosecond time scale, self-absorption effects can observed for X-ray spectral lines that are predominantly emitted during the action of a laser pre-pulse. The self-absorption effects are manifested as spectral lines with asymmetric profiles where the long-wavelength wing is suppressed compared to the short-wavelength wing. The observation of asymmetric contours is important for the diagnostics of the laser-cluster interaction because it enables the conclusion of whether the laser pre-pulse completely destroys the cluster and makes it possible to quantitatively estimate the size of the central region of the cluster, which has a solid-state density to the moment of the arrival of the main laser pulse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences between X-ray argon clusters excited at the laser-cluster and laser-droplet interactions have been analyzed. X-ray spectral methods have been proposed to determine the parameters of the appearing plasma at the early stages of its evolution. It has been shown that the spectra of hollow ions are the most informative in the first moments of the heating of a cluster, whereas the diagnostics of the late stages can be performed using the conventional lines of multicharged ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Neutron imaging by color center formation in LiF crystals was applied to a sensitivity indicator (SI) as a standard samples for neutron radiography. The SI was exposed to a 5mm pinhole-collimated thermal neutron beam with an LiF crystal and a neutron imaging plate (NIP) for 120min in the JRR-3M thermal neutron radiography facility. The image in the LiF crystal was read out using a laser confocal microscope. All gaps were clearly observed in images for both the LiF crystal and the NIP. The experimental results showed that LiF crystals have excellent characteristics as neutron imaging detectors in areas such as high spatial resolution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

X-ray diagnostics of the interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with intensities of 10-10 W/cm with CO clusters and frozen nanosize water particles is carried out. The stage of cluster expansion and the formation of a plasma channel, which governs the parameters of the formed X-ray radiation source and accelerated ion flows, is studied. The measurements are based on recording spatially resolved X-ray spectra of H- and He-like oxygen ions. Utilization of Rydberg transitions for spectra diagnostics makes it possible to determine plasma parameters on a time scale of t ∼ 10 ps after the beginning of a femtosecond pulse. The role of the rear edge of the laser pulse in sustaining the plasma temperature at a level of ∼100 eV in the stage of a nonadiabatic cluster expansion is shown. The analysis of the profiles and relative intensities of spectral lines allows one to determine the temperature and density of plasma electrons and distinguish the populations of 'thermal' ions and ions that are accelerated up to energies of a few tens of kiloelectronvolts. It is shown that the use of solid clusters made of frozen nanoscale water droplets as targets leads to a substantial increase in the number of fast He-like ions. In this case, however, the efficiency of acceleration of H-like ions does not increase, because the time of their ionization in plasma exceeds the time of cluster expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics of X rays of a laser plasma generated in the interaction of a femtosecond pulse with solid targets in an air atmosphere have been investigated. It has been shown that the mechanism for the generation of X rays in the interaction of short intense laser pulses with solid targets in a gas atmosphere is attributed to the generation of fast electrons in the region of the filamentation of a laser pulse. It has been proven experimentally that under such conditions, the solid target irradiated by laser radiation of even a low density of about 10 W/cm very efficiently emits ∼10-keV photons. It has been shown theoretically that the maximum energy of accelerated electrons can reach ɛ ∼ 100-200 keV under these conditions. This means that the proposed method can provide characteristic radiation with the energy of photons much higher than 10 keV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Demonstration of neutron imaging by color center formation in LiF crystals is reported. Neutron radiography images of various objects, including thin Au wires, Cd plates, Gd plates and thin liquid tubes, have been recorded. The data show that neutron imaging with LiF has many excellent properties: high spatial resolution of 5.4μm, little granular noises, good linearity and large dynamic range. The high resolution neutron imaging with LiF will be useful for various applications such as quantitative characterizations of neutron sources and electric devices, comprising of low-Z elements such as Li-ion batteries and fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been shown that a femtosecond plasma of cluster targets is an almost isotropic source of fast ions and, hence, can be used to obtain ionographic images with a wide field of view. The spatial resolution of the resulting ionographic images is no worse than 600 nm, which corresponds to a uniquely high value of about 105 of the ratio of the field of view to the resolution. The use of 100–300-keV ion fluxes ensures the sensitivity of the method to the sample thickness of no worse than 100 nm even for samples consisting of light chemical elements (C, H). The proposed method can be used to obtain images of low-contrast biological objects, thin films, membranes, and other nanostructured objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have measured the energy of the directed motion of multiply charged ions produced when solid targets are exposed to low-contrast (10−3–10−2) femtosecond laser pulses with intensities 1015–1016 W cm−2. The measurements are based on the recording of spatially resolved X-ray spectra for H-and He-like oxygen ions in the target plane. Analysis of the Heβ and Lyα line profiles has revealed fractions of accelerated ions in plasma with energies from several to several tens of kiloelectronvolts. We show that using a layer of frozen nanometer-size water droplets as the targets leads to an effective absorption of laser pulses and a twofold rise in the energy (to 0.1 MeV) of He-like oxygen ions compared to the use of solid targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possibility of phase-contrast imaging of nanostructures has been analyzed with the use of a femtosecond-laser plasma as a spatially coherent soft x-ray source and a LiF crystal as an x-ray detector having both the submicron spatial resolution in a wide field of view and a high contrast. It is demonstrated that the spatial coherence length of radiation in the wavelength range 1–13 nm at a distance of 30 cm from the femtosecond-laser plasma source is ≃1.5 μm. The achieved spatial coherence of the source is sufficient to obtain high-quality phase-contrast x-ray images of foils with various chemical compositions and a thickness of ≃100 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At high intensities of interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with various targets, numerous high-energy particles emitted from plasma in all directions lead to the appearance of parasitic peaks in the X-ray spectra of femtosecond laser plasma (FLP) during detection of these peaks with a detector based on a charge-coupled device (CCD). The algorithm proposed in this study allows identification of parasitic peaks in a series of experimental spectra, which are recorded for each pixel of the CCD detector independently of other pixels, and removal of these peaks. The algorithm is able to detect peaks in the presence of both variations in the intensities of spectral lines and very intense noise. The efficiency of the algorithm has been confirmed via testing with the use of a series of model spectra and spectra of Fe and Al ions recorded in experiments devoted to studies of the interaction of ultrahigh-intensity and ultrashort laser pulses with solid targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X-ray spectroscopic diagnostics of laser-cluster interaction at the stage of nonadiabatic scattering of clusters and formation of a spatially uniform plasma channel has been performed. The experimental investigations have been carried out on a Ti:Sa laser setup with a pulse duration of about 65 fs and an energy up to 600 mJ. It has been shown that, within 10 ps from the beginning of a laser femtosecond pulse, the laser-cluster interaction forms a uniform plasma channel with a length of 0.4 to 1 mm with the parameters N e ∼ 1019−1020 cm−3 and T e ∼ 100 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X-ray spectra from Teflon targets irradiated by laser pulses with a duration of 60 fs to 1 ps have been investigated experimentally. It is shown that, when the contrast of the laser pulse is sufficiently low, the effect of self-focusing of the main laser pulse in the plasma produced by the prepulse can significantly enhance the generation efficiency of fast particles. In this case, ions with energies as high as ∼1 MeV are observed at relatively low laser intensities, q las ≈ (4–6) × 1016 W/cm2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with SiO2 aerogel targets has been analyzed by x-ray spectroscopic methods. The use of an aerogel target with transparent grains makes it possible to considerably reduce the requirements on laser-pulse contrasts for which heating occurs without the formation of a preplasma. A nanoplasma with a density sevenfold higher than the solid-state density has been detected. © 2004 MAIK “Nauka/Interperiodica”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present observations of high-n transitions in the spectra of neon-like Cu19+ and Zn20+ ions observed in a variety of laser-produced plasmas (LPPs). The spectra are recorded with spectral resolution λ/Δλ=3000–8000 from three different laser sources: a 15 ns-pulse length Nd:glass, a ps-pulse length Nd:glass, a 12 ns-pulse length XeCl laser. These spectral observations are used to classify the transitions in the 2p–nd and 2s–np Rydberg series of the Ne-like copper and zinc ions, and to derive their first and second ionization energies. The plasma X-ray emission is simulated with a steady-state collisional-radiative model that includes the effect of self-absorption on line intensities, and the effect of hot-electron populations on the ionization balance. These spectra, along with those in our other recent work, provide a comprehensive set of data that can be used to test the accuracy of atomic-structure calculations, and to demonstrate the importance of opacity and hot electron effects on high-n transitions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We report the attempt to prepare free-standing spherically bent Si crystals with radii of curvature as small as 30 cm and large uniform working areas up to several cm². We also report on the use of these crystals in the Laue geometry to record two-dimensional high spatial resolution x-ray images in the hard x-ray region (λ∼0.5 Å). We discuss how these bent crystals were made, and show how these spherically bent crystals were used in the Laue geometry to obtain hard x-ray images of test objects at the silver K-alpha wavelength at two different magnifications. The mean spatial resolution of this x-ray imaging scheme, determined from the recorded image traces, was found to be better than 10 µm over a field of view of 1.5×1.5 mm. Contributions of possible focusing mechanisms (dynamical and polychromatic) are discussed. Additional theoretical understanding of how such a scheme is working is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The satellite structure of 1s2p[sup 1, 3]P[sub 1]–1s[sup 2 1]S[sub 0] lines of the He-like argon ion in plasma produced by a 45-fs laser pulse in a gas-jet cluster target is measured with a high spectral resolution. Radiation transitions 2p → 1s from autoionizing states (AISs) are detected for ions ranging from Li-like to F-like. The spectrum observed is theoretically simulated with the use of the spectroscopic data for the AISs of multicharged ions obtained within the multiconfiguration relativistic Hartree–Fock method. Good agreement with experimental data is obtained when the main population channels of these states are taken into account for typical values of cluster-target plasma parameters. © 2002 MAIK “Nauka / Interperiodica”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Satellite lines caused by radiative transitions from the Rydberg autoionization states of a Li-like Mg X ion in a plasma heated by radiation from a XeCl and a Nd laser are identified for the first time, and their wavelengths are measured precisely. Comparison of the experimental data with the atomic structures calculated by the method of relativistic perturbation theory shows that the accuracy of calculations of the energy of autoionization states is rather high even without the use of any semiempirical corrections and is of the order of 0.06%. The experimentally measured wavelengths can be used for a semiempirical estimate of the value of the leading order of perturbation theory among the orders that were neglected in calculations. It is shown that the simulation of the population kinetics of Rydberg autoionization states of Li-like ions in a dense plasma should take into account all possible channels of dielectronic capture, in particular, from the excited states of a He-like ion. The precision experimental wavelengths obtained for satellites of the He[sub β] and He[sub γ] lines of the Mg XI ion make possible to use these satellites as reference lines in studies of complicated spectra of multielectron ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The parameters of a plasma produced upon the interaction of ultrashort laser pulses with cluster targets are measured by the methods of X-ray spectroscopy. The dependence of the plasma parameters on the initial properties of a cluster target (the design of a supersonic nozzle, the average size of clusters, the spatial inhomogeneity) and the laser pulse properties (its duration and contrast) is studied. The plasma diagnostics is performed using the model of formation of emission spectra, which was proposed earlier and includes a number of fitting parameters, which provide good agreement with experimental spectra. The systematic experimental studies performed by us showed that our model of cluster heating by ultrashort pulses is indeed a physical model, and the fitting parameters represent the average values of plasma parameters in the corresponding space-time regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heating of clusters by femtosecond laser pulses is studied theoretically and experimentally. Both the formation of a cluster target and the results of experimental studies of the cluster plasma by the methods of X-ray emission spectroscopy are considered. A numerical model of cluster formation in a supersonic gas jet is proposed. It is shown that detailed studies of two-phase gas-dynamic processes in a nozzle forming the jet give the spatial distributions of all parameters required for the correct calculation of the cluster heating by short laser pulses. Calculations of nozzles of different configurations show that in a number of cases an almost homogeneous cluster target can be formed, whereas in other cases the distributions of parameters prove to be not only inhomogeneous but also even nonmonotonic. A simple physical model of the plasma production by a femtosecond laser pulse and a picosecond prepulse is proposed. It is shown that a comparison of X-ray spectra with detailed calculations of the ion kinetics makes it possible to determine the main parameters of the plasma being produced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a high-resolution x-ray spectrometer with a spherically bent quartz crystal and an x-ray sensitive charge coupled device (CCD). Application to the observation of highly charged ions produced and trapped in the Tokyo electron beam ion trap (EBIT); Measurement of spatial distribution and wavelength of radiation at the same time; Lower energy resolution method used.

It is shown that in a dense, not very hot, multiply charged plasma the satellite structures of resonance lines can become more intense than the resonance lines themselves. Experimental and theoretical investigations show that the conditions under which the satellite structures dominate in the emission spectrum of the plasma are quite easily realized experimentally and, furthermore, apparently they will be the most typical case in investigations of compressed plasma regions in inertial-confinement fusion experiments and in the study of plasma produced by high-contrast pico- and femtosecond laser pulses. © 1997 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An intense isotropic source of multicharged carbon and oxygen ions with energy above 300 keV and particle number >108 per shot was obtained by femtosecond Ti:Sa laser irradiation of submicron clusters. The source was employed for high-contrast contact ionography images with 600 nm spatial resolution. A variation in object thickness of 100 nm was well resolved for both Zr and polymer foils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ablation of LiF crystal by soft x-ray laser (XRL) pulses with wavelength λ=13.9 nm and duration TL=7 ps is studied experimentally and theoretically. It is found that a crater appears on a surface of LiF for XRL fluence, exceeding the ablation threshold Fa∼10.2 mJ/cm2 in one shot, or 5 mJ/cm2 in each of the three XRL shots. This is substantially below the ablation thresholds obtained with other lasers having longer pulse duration and/or longer wavelength. A mechanism of thermomechanical ablation in large bandgap dielectrics is proposed. The theory explains the low Fa via small attenuation depth, absence of light reflection, and electron heat conductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intense soft x-ray light source using the supersonic expansion of the mixed gas of He and CO2, when irradiated by a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser pulse, is observed to enhance the radiation of soft x-rays from the CO2 clusters. Using this soft x-ray emissions, nanostructure images of 100-nm-thick Mo foils in a wide field of view (mm2 scale) with high spatial resolution (800 nm) are obtained with high dynamic range LiF crystal detectors. The local inhomogeneities of soft x-ray absorption by the nanometer-thick foils is measured with an accuracy of less than ±3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High resolution X-ray imaging is crucial for many high energy density physics (HEDP) experiments. Recently developed techniques to improve resolution have, however, come at the cost of a decreased field of view. In this paper, an innovative experimental detector for X-ray imaging in the context of HEDP experiments with high spatial resolution, as well as a large field of view, is presented. The platform is based on coupling an X-ray backligther source with a Lithium Fluoride detector, characterized by its large dynamic range. A spatial resolution of 2 µm over a field of view greater than 2 mm2 is reported. The platform was benchmarked with both an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) and an X-ray source produced by a short pulse laser. First, using a non-coherent short pulse laser-produced backlighter, reduced penumbra blurring, as a result of the large size of the X-ray source, is shown. Secondly, we demonstrate phase contrast imaging with a fully coherent monochromatic XFEL beam. Modeling of the absorption and phase contrast transmission of X-ray radiation passing through various targets is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]