A spherical crystal imager for OMEGA EP

A narrowband x ray imager for the Cu K(α) line at ~8 keV using a spherically bent quartz crystal has been implemented on the OMEGA EP laser at the University of Rochester. The quartz crystal is cut along the 2131 (211) planes for a 2d spacing of 0.3082 nm, resulting in a Bragg angle of 88.7°, very close to normal incidence. An optical system is used to remotely align the spherical crystal without breaking the vacuum of the target chamber. The images show a high signal-to-background ratio of typically >100:1 with laser energies ≥1 kJ at a 10-ps pulse duration and a spatial resolution of less than 10 μm.