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Protons accelerated by a picosecond laser pulse have been used to radiograph a 500μm diameter capsule, imploded with 300 J of laser light in 6 symmetrically incident beams of wavelength 1.054μm and pulse length 1 ns. Point projection proton backlighting was used to characterize the density gradients at discrete times through the implosion. Asymmetries were diagnosed both during the early and stagnation stages of the implosion. Comparison with analytic scattering theory and simple Monte Carlo simulations were consistent with a 3±1g/cm3 core with diameter 85±10μm. Scaling simulations show that protons >50MeV are required to diagnose asymmetry in ignition scale conditions. © 2006 The American Physical Society.

Measurements of silver K-shell and bremsstrahlung emission from thin-foil laser targets as a function of laser prepulse energy are presented. The silver targets were chosen as a potential 22 keV backlighter source for the National Ignition Facility Experiments. The targets were irradiated by the Titan laser with an intensity of 8 × 1017 W/cm2 with 40 ps pulse length. A secondary nanosecond timescale laser pulse with controlled, variable energy was used to emulate the laser prepulse. Results show a decrease in both Kα and bremsstrahlung yield with increasing artificial prepulse. Radiation hydrodynamic modeling of the prepulse interaction determined that the preplasma and intact target fraction were different in the three prepulse energies investigated. Interaction of the short pulse laser with the resulting preplasma and target was then modeled using a particle-in-cell code PSC which explained the experimental results. The relevance of this work to future Advanced Radiographic Capability laser x-ray backlighter sources is discussed. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Magnetic and electric fields generated by the interaction of long-pulse laser beams with plasmas relevant to inertial confinement fusion have been measured. A proton beam generated by the interaction of an ultraintense laser with a thin metallic foil is used to probe laser-produced fields. The proton beam is temporally short (on the order of a picosecond at the source position) and highly laminar, and hence equivalent to a virtual point source which makes it an ideal source for point projection radiography. We have investigated, using face-on and side-on radiography, fields due to the non-collinearity of temperature and density gradients at laser intensities around 5 × 1013 W/cm2.

The south pole bang-time diagnostic views National Ignition Facility (NIF) implosions through the lower Hohlraum laser entrance hole to measure the time of peak x-ray emission (peak compression) in indirect-drive implosions. Five chemical-vapor-deposition diamond photoconductive detectors with different filtrations and sensitivities record the time-varying x rays emitted by the target. Wavelength selecting highly oriented pyrolytic graphite crystal mirror monochromators increase the x-ray signal-to-background ratio by filtering for 11-keV emission. Diagnostic timing and the in situ temporal instrument response function are determined from laser impulse shots on the NIF. After signal deconvolution and background removal, the bang time is determined to 45-ps accuracy. The x-ray “yield” (mJ/sr/keV at 11 keV) is determined from the time integral of the corrected peak signal.

Summary form only given. Fast Ignition [1] holds the promise of improved efficiency and reduced laser energy requirements for Laser Fusion Energy systems. The main approach proposed to date is by coupling a beam of 1 to 2 MeV electrons from the laser interaction spot to a 40 micron spot in the compressed fuel core using a metal cone insert to get close to the compressed core [2]. However, multi-millijoule level laser prepulse can create extended preplasmas within the cone, effectively moving the electron generation source region far back from the cone tip and core [3]. By employing second harmonic pulses much reduced levels of prepulse can be achieved and at the same time colder electron distribution can be obtained, closer to those required ultimately for Fast Ignition.

A novel time-resolved diagnostic is used to record the critical surface motion during picosecond-scale relativistic laser interaction with a solid target. Single-shot measurements of the specular light show a redshift decreasing with time during the interaction, corresponding to a slowing-down of the hole boring process into overdense plasma. On-shot full characterization of the laser pulse enables simulations of the experiment without any free parameters. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations yield redshifts that agree with the data, and support a simple explanation of the slowing-down of the critical surface based on momentum conservation between ions and reflected laser light.

We demonstrate the hohlraum radiation temperature and symmetry required for ignition-scale inertial confinement fusion capsule implosions. Cryogenic gas-filled hohlraums with 2.2 mm-diameter capsules are heated with unprecedented laser energies of 1.2 MJ delivered by 192 ultraviolet laser beams on the National Ignition Facility. Laser backscatter measurements show that these hohlraums absorb 87% to 91% of the incident laser power resulting in peak radiation temperatures of T(RAD)=300 eV and a symmetric implosion to a 100 μm diameter hot core.

A temporally gated x-ray framing camera based on a proximity focus microchannel plate is one of the most important diagnostic tools of inertial confinement fusion experiments. However, fusion neutrons produced in imploded capsules interact with structures surrounding the camera and produce background to x-ray signals. To understand the mechanisms of this neutron induced background, we tested several gated x-ray cameras in the presence of 14 MeV neutrons produced at the Omega laser facility. Differences between background levels observed with photographic film readout and charge-coupled-device readout have been studied.

The viability of fast-ignition (FI) inertial confinement fusion hinges on the efficient transfer of laser energy to the compressed fuel via multi-MeV electrons. Preformed plasma due to the laser prepulse strongly influences ultraintense laser plasma interactions and hot electron generation in the hollow cone of an FI target. We induced a prepulse and consequent preplasma in copper cone targets and measured the energy deposition zone of the main pulse by imaging the emitted K_{alpha} radiation. Simulation of the radiation hydrodynamics of the preplasma and particle in cell modeling of the main pulse interaction agree well with the measured deposition zones and provide an insight into the energy deposition mechanism and electron distribution. It was demonstrated that a under these conditions a 100 mJ prepulse eliminates the forward going component of approximately 2-4 MeV electrons.

We have conducted experiments on both the Vulcan and Titan laser facilities to study hot electron generation and transport in the context of fast ignition. Cu wires attached to Al cones were used to investigate the effect on coupling efficiency of plasma surround and the pre-formed plasma inside the cone. We found that with thin cones 15% of laser energy is coupled to the 40μm diameter wire emulating a 40μm fast ignition spot. Thick cone walls, simulating plasma in fast ignition, reduce coupling by x4. An increase of pre-pulse level inside the cone by a factor of 50 reduces coupling by a factor of 3. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.

The energy transport in cone-guided low- Z targets has been studied for laser intensities on target of 2.5× 1020 W cm-2. Extreme ultraviolet (XUV) imaging and transverse optical shadowgraphy of the rear surfaces of slab and cone-slab targets show that the cone geometry strongly influences the observed transport patterns. The XUV intensity showed an average spot size of 65±10 μm for slab targets. The cone slabs showed a reduced spot size of 44±10 μm. The shadowgraphy for the aforementioned shots demonstrate the same behavior. The transverse size of the expansion pattern was 357±32 μm for the slabs and reduced to 210±30 μm. A transport model was constructed which showed that the change in transport pattern is due to suppression of refluxing electrons in the material surrounding the cone. © 2009 The American Physical Society.

A dual-channel, curved-crystal spectrograph was designed to measure time-integrated x-ray spectra in the approximately 1.5 to 2 keV range (6.2-8.2 A wavelength) from small-mass, thin-foil targets irradiated by the VULCAN petawatt laser focused up to 4x10(20) W/cm(2). The spectrograph consists of two cylindrically curved potassium-acid-phthalate crystals bent in the meridional plane to increase the spectral range by a factor of approximately 10 compared to a flat crystal. The device acquires single-shot x-ray spectra with good signal-to-background ratios in the hard x-ray background environment of petawatt laser-plasma interactions. The peak spectral energies of the aluminum He(alpha) and Ly(alpha) resonance lines were approximately 1.8 and approximately 1.0 mJ/eV sr (approximately 0.4 and 0.25 J/A sr), respectively, for 220 J, 10 ps laser irradiation.

We present scaled demonstrations of backlighter sources, emitting bremsstrahlung x rays with photon energies above 75 keV, that we will use to record x-ray Compton radiographic snapshots of cold dense DT fuel in inertial confinement fusion implosions at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). In experiments performed at the Titan laser facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, we measured the source size and the bremsstrahlung spectrum as a function of laser intensity and pulse length from solid targets irradiated at 2x10(17)-5x10(18) W/cm(2) using 2-40 ps pulses. Using Au planar foils we achieved source sizes down to 5.5 microm and conversion efficiencies of about 1x10(-13) J/J into x-ray photons with energies in the 75-100 keV spectral range. We can now use these results to design NIF backlighter targets and shielding and to predict Compton radiography performance as a function of the NIF implosion yield and associated background.

A calibration of three types of GafChromic radiochromic film (HS, MD-55, and HD-810) was carried out on the Crocker Nuclear Laboratory's 76 in. cyclotron at UC Davis over doses ranging from 0.001 to 15 kGy. The film was digitized with a scanning microdensitometer with which it was scanned twice with two different filters to increase the film's effective dynamic range. We demonstrate how this calibrated film can be used to measure the spectrum and total energy of a laser generated proton beam. This technique was applied to an experiment on the 10 J, 100 fs Callisto laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The resulting proton spectrum was compared to that obtained by simultaneous measurement of Ti nuclear activation; the two methods give the same proton beam slope temperature and agree in number of protons to within 27%.

The transport of relativistic electrons, generated by the interaction of a high intensity (2 x 10(20) W/cm(2)) laser, has been studied in a nail-like target comprised of a 20 mu m diameter solid copper wire, coated with similar to 2 mu m of titanium, with an 80 mu m diameter hemispherical termination. A similar to 500 fs, similar to 200 J pulse of 1.053 mu m laser light produced by the Titan Laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was focused to a similar to 20 mu m diameter spot centered on the flat face of the hemisphere. K-alpha fluorescence from the Cu and Ti regions was imaged together with extreme ultraviolet (XUV) emission at 68 and 256 eV. Results showed a quasiexponential decline in K-alpha emission along the wire over a distance of a few hundred microns from the laser focus, consistent with bulk Ohmic inhibition of the relativistic electron transport. Weaker K-alpha and XUV emission on a longer scale length showed limb brightening suggesting a transition to enhanced transport at the surface of the wire. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

With the addition of recent PW shots, the propagation of short-pulse laser generated electron beams have been studied using laser pulse energies from 30 J to 300 J, generating currents up to ∼15 MA in solid Al:Cu targets. This is ∼5% of the current that will be required in an ignition pulse. To this level, the current appears to simply scale with laser power, the propagation spread not change at all. The resistance of the aluminum does not seem to play a role in the propagation characteristics, though it might in setting the current starting parameters. We do find that at the highest currents parts of these targets reach temperatures high enough to modify the Cu-K2 emission spectrum rendering our Bragg imaging mirrors ineffective; spectrometers will be needed to collect data at these higher temperatures. © EDP Sciences.

Kalpha x-ray emission, extreme ultraviolet emission, and plasma imaging techniques have been used to diagnose energy transport patterns in copper foils ranging in thickness from 5 to 75 microm for intensities up to 5x10(20) W cm-2. The Kalpha emission and shadowgrams both indicate a larger divergence angle than that reported in the literature at lower intensities [R. Stephens, Phys. Rev. E 69, 066414 (2004)]. Foils 5 microm thick show triple-humped plasma expansion patterns at the back and front surfaces. Hybrid code modeling shows that this can be attributed to an increase in the mean energy of the fast electrons emitted at large radii, which only have sufficient energy to form a plasma in such thin targets.

Summary form only given. The production of MeV protons by intense lasers is an area of great topical interest particularly with respect to the proposal to use protons to initiate burn in a fusion capsule. Following successful initial studies of focusing protons with hemishell targets, using a 10 J, 100 fs laser we extended the study to higher energy and longer pulses using PW class lasers at the RAL Vulcan, ILE Gekko facilities. Proton focusing was significantly aberrated in these experiments where a relatively small laser focal spot produced a central maximum in the sheath extension giving radial components to the acceleration. Experimental studies of this effect will be discussed and compared to 2D hybrid PIC modeling. In addition recent 1D numerical modeling of proton conversion efficiency with the hybrid PIC code LSP are beginning to show promising results, namely increased conversion of electron energy to proton energy. These theoretical predictions are currently being experimentally tested with targets that increase the proportion of protons on the target surface compared to heavy ions. Conclusions from these studies will be present and discussed in the context of fast ignition

Summary form only given. Laboratory experiments that employ petawatt lasers are rapidly approaching parameter regimes once thought to be the exclusive domain of compact astrophysical objects. In fact, experiments and simulations of petawatt lasers impinging on solid density targets have always shown that some fraction (usually ~10-50%) of laser energy couples to hot electrons in the target, which can be in excess of 50 Joules. Up to this point, targets have usually been macroscopic foils (millimeter-sized slab targets) or large cones, with small wires at the end. In hopes of simulating conditions thought to be present in the higher atmospheres of neutron stars, we have designed and fielded reduced mass targets (RMTs) that are of order 100 mum times 100 mum times 5 mum. These targets were designed to achieve hotter material and radiation temperatures than previous macroscopic targets. Results from a recent campaign consisting of a series of RMT's on the Vulcan laser at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) suggest that this is indeed the case. We present the results of spectroscopic measurements taken at RAL for copper RMT's tamped by 1 micron of aluminum on either side, and compare them to detailed particle-in-cell, hydro, and atomic physics computer simulations. By comparing them with identical targets, with the exception that the target sizes are increased to 400 mum times 400 mum and 1 mm times 1 mm, we find clear evidence for enhanced heating in the case of the smallest targets, where we infer nearly homogenous temperatures of over 200 eV for solid copper. Various explanations for the high temperatures will be explored, and applications of these results to EOS measurements and astrophysics will be discussed

A Kirkpatrick-Baez X-ray microscope has been developed for use on the Titan laser facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Fast Ignition experiments. It was developed as a broadband alternative to narrow band Bragg crystal imagers for imaging Kα emission from tracer layers. A re-entrant design is employed which allows for alignment from outside the chamber. The mirrors are coated with Pt and operate at a grazing incident angle of 0.5° providing higher resolution than an equal brightness pinhole and sufficient bandwidth to image thermally shifted characteristic Kα emission from heated Cu tracer layers in Fast Ignition experiments. The superpolished substrates (

An important diagnostic tool for inertial confinement fusion will be time-resolved radiographic imaging of the dense cold fuel surrounding the hot spot. The measurement technique is based on point-projection radiography at photon energies from 60 to 200 keV where the Compton effect is the dominant contributor to the opacity of the fuel or pusher. We have successfully applied this novel Compton radiography technique to the study of the final compression of directly driven plastic capsules at the OMEGA facility [T. R. Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)]. The radiographs have a spatial and temporal resolution of ∼10 μm and ∼10 ps, respectively. A statistical accuracy of ∼0.5% in transmission per resolution element is achieved, allowing localized measurements of areal mass densities to 7% accuracy. The experimental results show 3D nonuniformities and lower than 1D expected areal densities attributed to drive asymmetries and hydroinstabilities.

An instrument has been developed to measure X-ray bang-time for inertial confinement fusion capsules; the time interval between the start of the laser pulse and peak X-ray emission from the fuel core. The instrument comprises chemical vapor deposited polycrystalline diamond photoconductive X-ray detectors with highly ordered pyrolytic graphite X-ray monochromator crystals at the input. Capsule bang-time can be measured in the presence of relatively high thermal and hard X-ray background components due to the selective band pass of the crystals combined with direct and indirect X-ray shielding of the detector elements. A five channel system is being commissioned at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for implosion optimization measurements as part of the National Ignition Campaign. Characteristics of the instrument have been measured demonstrating that X-ray bang-time can be measured with ±30 ps precision, characterizing the soft X-ray drive to +/- 1 eV or 1.5%.

The relativistic electron transport induced by an ultraintense picosecond laser is experimentally investigated using an x-ray two-dimensional imaging system. Previous studies of the electron beam divergence [R. B. Stephens et al. Phys. Rev. E 69, 066414 (2004), for instance] were based on an x-ray imaging of a fluorescence layer buried at different depths in the target along the propagation axis. This technique required several shots to be able to deduce the divergence of the beam. Other experiments produced single-shot images in a one-dimensional geometry. The present paper describes a new target design producing a single-shot, two-dimensional image of the electrons propagating in the target. Several characteristics of the electron beam are extracted and discussed and Monte Carlo simulations provide a good understanding of the observed beam shape. The proposed design has proven to be efficient, reliable, and promising for further similar studies.

The National Ignition Facility will soon be producing x-ray flux and neutron yields higher than any produced in laser driven implosion experiments in the past. Even a non-igniting capsule will require x-ray imaging of near burning plasmas at 10(17) neutrons, requiring x-ray recording systems to work in more hostile conditions than we have encountered in past laser facilities. We will present modeling, experimental data and design concepts for x-ray imaging with electronic recording systems for this environment (ARIANE). A novel instrument, active readout in a nuclear environment, is described which uses the time-of-flight difference between the gated x-ray signal and the neutron which induces a background signal to increase the yield at which gated cameras can be used.

Measurements of Kα radiation yield and x-ray bremsstrahlung emission from thin-foil silver targets are presented. The targets were irradiated by a short pulse laser with intensities from 5×1016 to 1018 W/cm2 at 40 ps. Single hit charge-coupled device detectors, differential filter-stack detectors, and a crystal spectrometer were used to investigate the angular distribution of the Kα and bremsstrahlung x-rays. This study is the first to use a broadband detector to estimate the absolute numbers of Kα photons and to determine Kα to bremsstrahlung ratios. The relevance of this work in the context of x-ray diffraction and x-ray radiography is discussed.

Short-pulse, ultra-intense lasers generate hot electrons at the cone tip in a Fast Ignition target. Core heating and cone-wire experiments find that about 20% of the incident laser energy is coupled into a target, but do not characterize electron propagation direction, a critical parameter for ignition. Previous studies using flat foils suggest they propagate forward, diverging by ~40°. Buried cone targets–conical cavities in multilayer metal foils-were developed to allow divergence measurements in an FI relevant geometry. Preliminary results show increased electron divergence in a 30 μm diameter cone tip which disappears for 90 μm diameter tips. Implications of the experiment are discussed.

A new Dual Channel Highly Ordered Pyrolytic Graphite (DC-HOPG) x-ray spectrometer was developed for use in high energy short-pulse laser experiments. The instrument uses a pair of graphite crystals and has the advantage of simultaneously detecting self emission from low-Z materials in first diffraction order and high-Z materials in second order. The emissions from the target are detected using a pair of parallel imaging plates positioned in a such way that the noise from background is minimized and the mosaic focusing is achieved. Initial tests of the diagnostic on the Titan laser (I ~ 1020W/cm2,τ = 0.7ps) show excellent signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) > 1000 for the low energy channel and SNR > 400 for the high energy channel.

A neutron source for neutron resonance spectroscopy has been developed using high-intensity, short-pulse lasers. This technique will allow robust measurement of interior ion temperature of laser-shocked materials and provide insight into material equation of state. The neutron generation technique uses laser-accelerated protons to create neutrons in LiF through (p,n) reactions. The incident proton beam has been diagnosed using radiochromic film. This distribution is used as the input for a (p,n) neutron prediction code which is validated with experimentally measured neutron yields. The calculation infers a total fluence of 1.8×109 neutrons, which are expected to be sufficient for neutron resonance spectroscopy temperature measurements.

The conversion efficiency from laser energy into proton kinetic energy is measured with the 0.6ps, 9×1019W∕cm2 Titan laser at the Jupiter Laser Facility as a function of target thickness in Au foils. For targets thicker than 20μm, the conversion efficiency scales approximately as 1∕L, where L is the target thickness. This is explained by the domination of hot electron collisional losses over adiabatic cooling. In thinner targets, the two effects become comparable, causing the conversion efficiency to scale weaker than 1∕L; the measured conversion efficiency is constant within the scatter in the data for targets between 5 and 15μm, with a peak conversion efficiency of 4% into protons with energy greater than 3MeV. Depletion of the hydrocarbon contaminant layer is eliminated as an explanation for this plateau by using targets coated with 200nm of ErH3 on the rear surface. The proton acceleration is modeled with the hybrid-particle in cell code LSP, which reproduced the conversion efficiency scaling observed...

Recent theoretical work suggests that the conversion efficiency from laser to protons in laser irradiated thin foil experiments increases if the atomic mass of nonhydrogen atoms on the foil rear surface increases. Experiments were performed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Jupiter Laser Facility to observe the effect of thin foils coated with erbium hydride on the conversion efficiency from laser to protons. Gold foils with and without the rear surface coated with ErH3 were irradiated using the ultrashort pulse, 40 TW Callisto laser. An argon-ion etching system was used to remove naturally occurring nanometer thick surface layer contaminants from the hydride. With the etcher, gold with ErH3 showed a 25% increase in the conversion efficiency to protons above 3.4 MeV relative to contaminants, where C+4 and H+ were the dominant ion species. No difference in the ion signal was observed without first cleaning the hydrides. Simulations using the hybrid PIC code, LSP, revealed that the increase due ...

The Bremsstrahlung and K-shell emission from 1×1×1 mm3 planar targets irradiated by a short-pulse 3×1018–8×1019 W/cm2 laser were measured. The Bremsstrahlung was measured using a filter stack spectrometer with spectral discrimination up to 500 keV. K-shell emission was measured using a single photon counting charge coupled device. From Monte Carlo modeling of the target emission, conversion efficiencies into 1–3 MeV electrons of 3%–12%, representing 20%–40% total conversion efficiencies, were inferred for intensities up to 8×1019 W/cm2. Comparisons to scaling laws using synthetic energy spectra generated from the intensity distribution of the focal spot imply slope temperatures less than the ponderomotive potential of the laser. Resistive transport effects may result in potentials of a few hundred kV in the first few tens of microns in the target. This would lead to higher total conversion efficiencies than inferred from Monte Carlo modeling but lower conversion efficiencies into 1–3 MeV electrons.

Experimental results showing hot electron penetration into Cu wires using Kα fluorescence imaging are presented. A 500 J, 1 ps laser was focused at f/3 into hollow aluminum cones joined at their tip to Cu wires of diameters from 10 to 40 μm. Comparison of the axially diminishing absolute intensity of Cu Kα with modeling shows that the penetration of the electrons is consistent with one dimensional Ohmic potential limited transport. The laser coupling efficiency to electron energy within the wire is shown to be proportional to the cross sectional area of the wire, reaching 15% for 40 μm wires. Further, we find the hot electron temperature within the wire to be about 750 keV. The relevance of these data to cone coupled fast ignition is discussed. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.

The ignition concept for electron fast ignition inertial confinement fusion requires sufficient energy be transferred from an approximately 20 ps laser pulse to the compressed fuel via approximately MeV electrons. We have assembled a suite of diagnostics to characterize such transfer, simultaneously fielding absolutely calibrated extreme ultraviolet multilayer imagers at 68 and 256 eV; spherically bent crystal imagers at 4.5 and 8 keV; multi-keV crystal spectrometers; MeV x-ray bremmstrahlung, electron and proton spectrometers (along the same line of sight), and a picosecond optical probe interferometer. These diagnostics allow careful measurement of energy transport and deposition during and following the laser-plasma interactions at extremely high intensities in both planar and conical targets. Together with accurate on-shot laser focal spot and prepulse characterization, these measurements are yielding new insights into energy coupling and are providing critical data for validating numerical particle-in-cell (PIC) and hybrid PIC simulation codes in an area crucial for fast ignition and other applications. Novel aspects of these diagnostics and how they are combined to extract quantitative data on ultrahigh intensity laser-plasma interactions are discussed.

Experimental results from copper cones irradiated with ultraintense laser light are presented. Spatial images and total yields of CuKα fluorescence were measured as a function of the laser focusing properties. The fluorescence emission extends into the cone approximately 300μm from the cone tip and cannot be explained by ray tracing including cone wall absorption. In addition, the total fluorescence yield from cones is an order of magnitude higher than for equivalent mass foil targets. Indications are that the physics of the laser-cone interaction is dominated by preplasma created from the long duration, low-energy prepulse from the laser.

Propagation of electron beams generated in laser-plasma interactions is strongly influenced by self-induced electrostatic fields at target-vacuum interfaces, resulting the refluxing of electrons. We confirmed the refluxing and propagation of electrons with three different kinds of target configurations; thin-wide foil, thin-narrow foil, and long-wire geometry. Enhancement of target heating, effective guiding and collimation of high density MeV electrons were observed.

The results of laser-driven proton beam focusing and heating with a high energy (170J) short pulse are reported. Thin hemispherical aluminum shells are illuminated with the Gekko petawatt laser using 1μm light at intensities of ∼3×1018W∕cm2 and measured heating of thin Al slabs. The heating pattern is inferred by imaging visible and extreme-ultraviolet light Planckian emission from the rear surface. When Al slabs 100μm thick were placed at distances spanning the proton focus beam waist, the highest temperatures were produced at 0.94× the hemisphere radius beyond the equatorial plane. Isochoric heating temperatures reached 81eV in 15μm thick foils. The heating with a three-dimensional Monte Carlo model of proton transport with self-consistent heating and proton stopping in hot plasma was modeled.

The interaction of a 75 J 10 ps, high intensity laser beam with low-mass, solid Cu targets is investigated. Two instruments were fielded as diagnostics of Cu K -shell emission from the targets: a single photon counting spectrometer provided the absolute Kα yield [C. Stoeckl, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 75, 3705 (2004)] and a spherically bent Bragg crystal recorded 2D monochromatic images with a spatial resolution of 10 μm [J. A. Koch, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 74, 2130 (2003)]. Due to the shifting and broadening of the Kα spectral lines with increasing temperature, there is a temperature dependence of the crystal collection efficiency. This affects measurements of the spatial pattern of electron transport, and it provides a temperature diagnostic when cross calibrated against the single photon counting spectrometer. The experimental data showing changing collection efficiency are presented. The results are discussed in light of modeling of the temperature-dependent spectrum of Cu K -shell emission. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.

A 68 eV extreme-ultraviolet light imaging diagnostic measures short pulse isochoric heating by electrons and protons in petawatt laser experiments. Temperatures are deduced from the absolute intensities and comparison with modeling using a radiation hydrodynamics code.

High‐energy x‐ray backlighters will be valuable for radiography experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), and for radiography of imploded inertial confinement fusion cores using Compton scattering to observe cold, dense plasma. Key considerations are the available backlight brightness, and the backlight size. To quantify these parameters we have characterized the emission from low‐ and high‐Z planar foils irradiated by intense picosecond and femtosecond laser pulses from the TITAN laser facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Spectra generated by a sequence of elements from Mo to Pb, spanning the x‐ray energy range from 17 keV to 75 keV, have been recorded using a Charged Coupled Device (CCD) in single hit regime and a Dual Crystal Spectrometer (DCS). High‐resolution point‐projection 2D radiographs have also been recorded on Fuji BaFBr:Eu2 image plates using calibrated resolution grids. We discuss the results in light of the requirements for applications at NIF.