Spaced Nano-Foil Laser Targets as Bright High-Energy X-ray Sources
ORAL
Abstract
Colvin and Felter (Bull. A.P.S. 48/7. 288, 2003) first showed the feasibility of using very low-density (density $\sim $0.1{\%} solid) pure-metal foams as bright high-energy x-ray sources based on simulations of K-shell x-ray output under high-power laser illumination. They also presented preliminary results of a novel fabrication process for making such very low-density foams (Bull. A.P.S. 49/8, 285, 2004). In this talk we present some results of an intermediate step: fabrication of spaced nano-foil targets, simulations of how these targets turn into a near-homogeneous under-dense plasma when illuminated by a high-power laser, and spectroscopic measurements taken on the Z-Beamlet laser at Sandia National Laboratories. Preliminary results suggest that it may be possible to get a higher x-ray conversion efficiency from these targets than from a solid metal disc under identical illumination conditions.
*This work was performed under the auspices of the US Department of Energy by University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract No. W-7405-Eng-48.
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