Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026
Automated Delivery of Microfabricated Targets for Intense Laser Irradiation Experiments
Published on: January 28, 2021
Experimental benchmark for an improved simulation of absolute soft-x-ray emission from polystyrene targets irradiated
J L Weaver1, M Busquet, D G Colombant
1Plasma Physics Division, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. 20375, USA.
Abstract:
Absolutely calibrated, time-resolved spectral intensity measurements of soft-x-ray emission (hnu approximately 0.1-1.0 keV) from laser-irradiated polystyrene targets are compared to radiation-hydrodynamic simulations that include our new postprocessor, Virtual Spectro. This new capability allows a unified, detailed treatment of atomic physics and radiative transfer in nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium conditions for simple spectra from low-Z materials as well as complex spectra from high-Z materials. The excellent agreement (within a factor of approximately 1.5) demonstrates the powerful predictive capability of the codes for the complex conditions in the ablating plasma. A comparison to data with high spectral resolution (E/deltaE approximately 1000) emphasizes the importance of including radiation coupling in the quantitative simulation of emission spectra.
