Bremsstrahlung emission and plasma characterization driven by moderately relativistic laser-plasma interactions

Relativistic electrons generated by the interaction of petawatt-class short laser pulses with solid targets can be used to generate bright X-rays via bremsstrahlung. The efficiency of laser energy transfer into these electrons depends on multiple parameters including focused intensity and pre-plasma level. This paper describes the experimental results from the interaction of a high intensity petawatt-class glass laser with solid targets at a maximum intensity of 10^19 W/cm^2. In-situ measurements of specularly reflected light were used to provide an upper bound of laser absorption and to characterize focused laser intensity, the pre-plasma level and the generation mechanism of second harmonic light. The measured spectrum of electrons and bremsstrahlung radiation provide information about the efficiency of laser energy transfer.