Soft X-Ray Laser Interferometry of Colliding Laser-Created Plasmas in Semicylindrical Cavities.

A tabletop capillary discharge soft X-ray laser was used to acquire high-contrast interferograms that map the evolution of dense aluminum plasmas created by the laser irradiation of a 500-/Am-diameter semicylindrical cavity with 120-ps optical laser pulses of ~1.1 × 1012 - W · cm-2 peak intensity. The measured electron density maps, which were compared with simulations, show that the plasma converges on axis where it collides to form a localized region with density exceeding 1 × 1020 cm-3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]