X-Ray Crystal Spectroscopy of Sub-picosecond Laser-Produced Plasmas beyond 50 keV

Area of Science:

• Plasma Physics
• X-ray Spectroscopy
• Laser-Matter Interaction

Background:

• Sub-picosecond laser interactions with high-Z targets generate hard X-ray continua.
• High-resolution studies of line emission from such plasmas are scarce.
• Existing methods like absorption filters have limited spectral resolution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce crystal spectroscopy for observing energetic line X-radiation from sub-picosecond laser-produced plasmas.
• To analyze and optimize crystal properties for hard X-ray spectroscopy (>50 keV).
• To achieve high throughput and spectral resolution in spectroscopic applications.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical analysis of crystal reflection properties in Bragg and Laue geometries.
• Optimization of crystal setups for hard X-ray spectroscopy.
• Utilizing crystal spectroscopy to observe characteristic line emissions.

Main Results:

• First observation of characteristic tantalum Kα,β- and Lα,β-line emissions from sub-picosecond laser-produced plasmas.
• Achieved a spectral resolving power of approximately 450.
• Demonstrated significantly higher resolution compared to absorption filter techniques (E/ΔE ≈ 15).

Conclusions:

• Crystal spectroscopy is a viable and high-resolution tool for studying energetic line X-radiation from laser-produced plasmas.
• The developed method enables detailed analysis of characteristic emissions, advancing plasma diagnostics.
• This technique significantly surpasses the resolution of conventional methods for hard X-ray spectroscopy.