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Time-resolved x-ray self-emission imaging was used to study the dynamic evolution of a laserproduced gold plasma tamped by plastic (CH), and a significant plasma collapse was observed during the laser irradiation. The plasma collapse, a kind of transverse contraction, has been ascribed to the radial compression caused by the different radiative cooling rates and thus different pressures between the central high-Z gold plasma and the surrounding low-Z CH plasma, and this has been reproduced by numerical simulations using the two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamics code Multi2D. The experimental results represent an observation of the radiative cooling induced plasma jet within a 1 ns laser pulse duration, much more quickly than those reported previously. In addition, our experiment design may offer a method to study the radiative cooling rates of high-Z plasmas. The measured cooling rate is a factor of 2 higher than the theoretical result [Post et al., At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 20, 397 (1977)], but is within the stated calculational uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe an experimental technique to measure the drive symmetry of M-band radiation on the capsule in hohlraum. M-band radiation from the corona of the laser-produced gold plasma, especially the laser spot regions in the cavity, was used to pump x-ray fluorescence of a thin layer of Sitracer coated on a solid CH-ball. The fluorescence images were time resolvedly recorded by an x-ray framing camera and the drive asymmetry due to M-band radiation was deduced from these fluorescence images. Moreover, a Si-doped gold cavity was used with the initial purpose of maximizing the fluorescence signal through resonance transitions. Since the Si-plasma expands more rapidly than the gold-plasma, the evolution of drive asymmetry was accelerated in Si-doped hohlraum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enhancement of laser to x-ray conversion efficiencies using low density gold targets [W. L. Shang, J. M. Yang, and Y. S. Dong, Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 094105 (2013)] is demonstrated. Laser to x-ray conversion efficiencies with 6.3% and 12% increases are achieved with target densities of 1 and 0.25 g/cm³, when compared with that of a solid gold target (19.3 g/cm³). Experimental data and numerical simulations are in good agreement. The enhancement is caused by larger x-ray emission zone lengths formed in low density targets, which is in agreement with the simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A design of secondary hohlraum radiation source with laser focal spots blocked is introduced. The hard x-ray radiation such as the gold M-band emission and hot electrons from the coronal plasma were designed to be shielded using a cylindrical shield. Three-dimensional view factor analysis was carried out to optimize the shield structure to achieve higher radiation temperature. An experiment was performed at Shenguang III prototype laser facility to verify the design. Velocity Interferometer System for Any Reflector was used to measure the shock wave speed in a threestepped Al sample driven by this radiation source and the peak radiation temperature of the radiation source was estimated to be about 90 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the hohlraum used in laser indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion experiments, hydrodynamic processes of radiation-ablated high-Z plasma have a great effect on laser injection efficiency, radiation uniformity, and diagnosis of hohlraum radiation field from diagnostic windows (DW). To study plasma filling in the DWs, a laser-irradiated Ti disk was used to generate 2-5 keV narrow energy band X-ray as the intense backlighter source, and laser-produced X-ray in a hohlraum with low-Z foam tamper was used to heat a small hole surrounded by gold wall with 150 μm in diameter and 100 μm deep. The hydrodynamic movement of the gold plasma in the small hole was measured by an X-ray framing camera and the results are analyzed. Quantitative measurement of the plasma areal density distribution and evolution in the small hole can be used to assess the effect of plasma filling on the diagnosis from the DWs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrodynamic processes of radiation-ablated high-Z plasmas have great influence on the x-ray radiation transport both in a high-Z tube with low-Z foam filling and in a low-Z filling indirect drive cavity. Using the intense x-ray radiation to heat a low-Z foam-tamped high-Z gold plate from a half cavity, the hydrodynamic moving process of the x-ray-ablated gold plasma has been studied by an imaging method with Ti He-α line emission as the backlighter source. The hydrodynamic trajectory of the x-ray-heated gold plasma was obtained and the average trajectory velocity of (36.5±1.2) km/s was derived. The experimental trajectory was compared with the simulations using the one-dimensional (1D) RDMG [P. Gu et al., Sci. China, Ser. G 48, 345 (2005)] and two-dimensional (2D) LARED-R [K. Lan et al., Laser Part. Beams 23, 275 (2005)] codes separately. It is shown that the 2D LARED-R code simulated the measured plasma trajectory much better than the 1D RDMG code due to the fact that the lateral x-ray radiation loss was taken into account in the 2D LARED-R but not in the 1D RDMG simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiation flow through gold-doped hydrocarbon foam is investigated and a model is presented to calculate effective opacity for an inhomogeneous, pressure-equilibrated gold/foam mixture based on the Levermore-Pomraning method for binary stochastic media. The effective opacity dependance on the size of the gold particles and the foam temperature are studied. The results suggest that when the mixture temperature is lower than 250 eV, the opacity difference between the 5 &mgr;m particle mix case and the atomic mix case is large enough to induce a significant discrepancy in radiation transport, which is confirmed by the hydrodynamic simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X-ray streak cameras are extensively used to study transient x-ray processes in experiments carried out on various laser facilities at the Research Center of Laser Fusion. Precise calibration and clear description of the sweep speed of the x-ray streak camera are vital for obtaining precise temporal information to understand the fast physics phenomena. An x-ray streak camera named wide-slit x-ray streak camera has been calibrated using a small-scale laser facility with pulse duration of 8 ps. Sweep speeds on most part of the output screen (charge coupled device) are obtained. These calibration results can be used to correct the nonlinearity of sweep speed in measurement of temporal processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important x-ray source, enhancement of x-ray emissions from laser-produced plasmas is significant for various applications. Due to less expanding kinetic loss, gold foam with low initial density can have an enhanced x-ray conversion efficiency compared with solid-density gold. However, low-Z impurities within gold foam targets will diminish the enhancement remarkably, and should be tightly controlled. This paper presents an experimental study of a high brightness laser plasma soft x-ray source, based on a g gold foam target with negligible impurities irradiated by nanosecond laser pulses with power density around 3  ×  10 W at the Shenguang II laser facility. A conversion efficiency, from multi-eV to multi-keV, of % is achieved in the x-ray emissions—about 21% relative enhancement compared with a solid-density gold target, and the highest conversion efficiency for Au foam planar targets yet. Good agreement has been achieved between the semi-analytical model prediction and the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluorescence imaging of surrogate Si-doped CH targets has been used to provide a measurement for drive condition of high-energy x-ray (i.e. M-band x-ray) drive symmetry upon the capsule in hohlraum on Shenguang-II laser facility. A series of experiments dedicated to the study of photo-pumping and fluorescence effect in Si-plasma are presented. To investigate the feasibility of fluorescence imaging in Si-plasma, an silicon plasma in Si-foil target is pre-formed at ground state by the soft x-ray from a half-hohlraum, which is then photo-pumped by the K-shell lines from a spatially distinct laser-produced Si-plasma. The resonant Si photon pump is used to improve the fluorescence signal and cause visible image in the Si-foil. Preliminary fluorescence imaging of Si-ball target is performed in both Si-doped and pure Au hohlraum. The usual capsule at the center of the hohlraum is replaced with a solid Si-doped CH-ball (Si-ball). Since the fluorescence is proportional to the photon pump upon the Si-plasma, high-energy x-ray drive symmetry is equal to the fluorescence distribution of the Si-ball. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The K-shell emission spectra of laser-produced aluminum plasma are measured by a space-resolved spectrometer consisting of a flat crystal spectrometer with a 20 um wide space-resolved slit. By using the approximation of the steady collisional-radiative equilibrium model, the interstage line intensity ratios of Ly-a resonance line to He-a resonance line are given as a function of electron temperature. The spectra profiles are decomposed to resonance line and the overlapped high-order satellites manifold. Thus reliable electron temperature is deduced from the interstage line intensity ratios of the decomposed resonance lines. The results of spaced-resolved temperature are compared with the hydrodynamic simulations. The diagnostics of electron temperature for laser-produced plasma is developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A technique of flat crystal x-ray spectrometer for quantitative spectral measurement is described. For the flat crystal spectrograph geometry, the quantitative reduction of relating the CCD counts back to the photon flux from the x-ray source is established. The absolute calibrations of the integral diffraction coefficients of the crystal and the CCD sensitivity make it possible to measure absolute photons flux within the energy range of 2000-5000 eV. The uncertainty analysis of the calibrations is carried out to obtain the energy resolved uncertainties of crystal and CCD. Thus, the experimental spectra with spectral resolved intensity uncertainties are available. Then, a performing experiment of laser-produced Ti plasma is carried out and the absolute x-ray spectra with intensity uncertainty less than 8.5% are obtained. The technique is promising for absolute spectral measurement of high temperature plasmas in a kilo-electron-volt region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integral diffraction coefficients of the crystal are the essential data of a crystal spectrometer which is extensively used to measure quantitative x-ray spectra of high temperature plasmas in kilo-electron-volt region. An experimental method has been developed to measure the integral diffraction coefficients of crystals on beamline 4B7 of Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The integral diffraction coefficients of several crystals including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), thallium acid phthalate (TlAP) and rubidium acid phthalate (RAP) crystals have been measured in the x-ray energy range 2100-5600 eV and compared with the calculations of the 'Darwin Prins' and the 'Mosaic' models. It is shown that the integral diffraction coefficients of these crystals are between the calculations of the 'Darwin Prins' and the 'Mosaic' models, but more close to the 'Darwin Prins' model calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]