A streaked parabolic crystal imaging diagnostic at the Orion laser

We report on a novel scheme for the imaging of soft X-rays using a parabolic crystal coupled to a fast X-ray streak camera. The merits of parabolic, and more generally aspheric imaging, are discussed in relation to conventional spherical schemes and calculations used to show the advantages. An example of such a system has been designed and built at the Orion laser, AWE Aldermaston, UK. The system's parameters are set out, and the approaches to the operational challenges are presented. The system has been used on high-energy density physics experiments to measure the release isentrope of warm dense matter states. Time-integrated and temporally resolved results are shown, demonstrating 5 μm spatial resolution (6 μm across a 200 μm field-of-view) and 10 ps temporal resolution. A discussion of the resolution-limiting factors is presented, along with possible applications and future improvements.