G. V. Brown

The Astro-E2 X-ray spectrometer/EBIT microcalorimeter x-ray spectrometer

The x-ray spectrometer (XRS) instrument is a revolutionary nondispersive spectrometer that will form the basis for the Astro-E2 observatory to be launched in 2005. We have recently installed a flight spare XRS microcalorimeter spectrometer at the EBIT-I and SuperEBIT facility at LLNL replacing the XRS from the earlier Astro-E mission and providing twice the resolving power. The XRS microcalorimeter is an x-ray detector that senses the heat deposited by the incident photon. It achieves a high energy resolution by operating at 0.06u2002u2002u2002K and by carefully engineering the heat capacity and thermal conductance. The XRS/EBIT instrument has 32 pixels in a square geometry and achieves an energy resolution of 6u2002eV at 6u2002keV, with a bandpass from 0.1 to 12u2002keV (or more at higher operating temperature). The instrument allows detailed studies of the x-ray line emission of laboratory plasmas. The XRS/EBIT also provides an extensive calibration “library” for the Astro-E2 observatory.

Laboratory Measurements of the Relative Intensity of the 3s → 2p and 3d → 2p Transitions in Fe XVII

The intensity ratios of the 3s → 2p and 3d → 2p lines in Fe XVII were measured on the Livermore electron beam ion trap employing a complementary set of spectrometers, including a high-resolution crystal spectrometer and the Goddard 32 pixel calorimeter. The resulting laboratory data are in agreement with satellite measurements of the Sun and astrophysical sources in collisional equilibrium such as Capella, Procyon, and NGC 4636. The results disagree with earlier laboratory measurements and assertions that processes not accounted for in laboratory measurements must play a role in the formation of the Fe XVII spectra in solar and astrophysical plasmas.

Measurement of Emission Cross Sections for n = 3 → 2 Lines in Li-like Fe23+

We report measurements of emission cross sections for iron L-shell 3 → 2 lines in Fe23+ performed on the electron beam ion trap EBIT-II using a combination of a crystal spectrometer and the spare 6 × 6 element X-Ray Spectrometer microcalorimeter from the Astro-E X-ray satellite mission. Use of the microcalorimeter enables for first time the normalization of line emission cross sections, i.e., effective electron impact excitation cross sections that include radiative cascades, to the well-established cross section of radiative electron capture, thus allowing the normalization of relative line intensity measurements using crystal spectrometers.

Extended-range grazing-incidence spectrometer for high-resolution extreme ultraviolet measurements on an electron beam ion trap.

A high-resolution grazing-incidence grating spectrometer has been implemented on the Livermore electron beam ion traps for performing very high-resolution measurements in the soft x-ray and extreme ultraviolet region spanning from below 10 Å to above 300 Å. The instrument operates without an entrance slit and focuses the light emitted by highly charged ions located in the roughly 50 μm wide electron beam onto a cryogenically cooled back-illuminated charge-coupled device detector. The measured line widths are below 0.025 Å above 100 Å, and the resolving power appears to be limited by the source size and Doppler broadening of the trapped ions. Comparisons with spectra obtained with existing grating spectrometers show an order of magnitude improvement in spectral resolution.

Development of M-shell x-ray spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry of z-pinch tungsten plasmas

The development of spectroscopic modeling of M-shell tungsten z-pinch plasma is presented. The spectral region from 3.5 to 6.5u2002A includes three distinct groups of transitions, and the best candidates for M-shell diagnostics are identified. Theoretical modeling is benchmarked with LLNL electron beam ion trap data produced at different energies of the electron beam and recorded by crystal spectrometers and a broadband microcalorimeter. A new high temperature plasma diagnostic tool, x-ray spectropolarimetry, is proposed to study polarization of W line emission and is illustrated using the results of x-pinch polarization-sensitive experiments. The x-ray line polarization of the prominent M-shell tungsten lines is calculated, and polarization markers are identified. The advantage of using x-pinch W wire experiments for the development of M-shell diagnostics is shown.

Calibration of the OHREX high-resolution imaging crystal spectrometer at the Livermore electron beam ion traps

We report the calibration of the Orion High-Resolution X-ray (OHREX) imaging crystal spectrometer at the EBIT-I electron beam ion trap at Livermore. Two such instruments, dubbed OHREX-1 and OHREX-2, are fielded for plasma diagnostics at the Orion laser facility in the United Kingdom. The OHREX spectrometer can simultaneously house two spherically bent crystals with a radius of curvature of r = 67.2 cm. The focusing properties of the spectrometer allow both for larger distance to the source due to the increase in collected light and for observation of extended sources. OHREX is designed to cover a 2.5°-3° spectral range at Bragg angles around 51.3°. The typically high resolving powers at these large Bragg angles are ideally suited for line shape diagnostics. For instance, the nominal resolving power of the instrument (>10u2009000) is much higher than the effective resolving power associated with the Doppler broadening due to the temperature of the trapped ions in EBIT-I. The effective resolving power is only around 3000 at typical EBIT-I conditions, which nevertheless is sufficient to set up and test the instruments spectral characteristics. We have calibrated the spectral range for a number of crystals using well known reference lines in the first and second order and derived the ion temperatures from these lines. We have also made use of the 50 μm size of the EBIT-I source width to characterize the spatial focusing of the spectrometer.

Imaging crystal spectrometer for high-resolution x-ray measurements on electron beam ion traps and tokamaks

We describe a crystal spectrometer implemented on the Livermore electron beam ion traps that employ two spherically bent quartz crystals and a cryogenically cooled back-illuminated charge-coupled device detector to measure x rays with a nominal resolving power of λ/Δλ ≥ 10u2009000. Its focusing properties allow us to record x rays either with the plane of dispersion perpendicular or parallel to the electron beam and, thus, to preferentially select one of the two linear x-ray polarization components. Moreover, by choice of dispersion plane and focussing conditions, we use the instrument either to image the distribution of the ions within the 2 cm long trap region, or to concentrate x rays of a given energy to a point on the detector, which optimizes the signal-to-noise ratio. We demonstrate the operation and utility of the new instrument by presenting spectra of Mo34+, which prepares the instrument for use as a core impurity diagnostic on the NSTX-U spherical torus and other magnetic fusion devices that employ molybdenum as plasma facing components.

Use of a priori spectral information in the measurement of x-ray flux with filtered diode arrays

Filtered x-ray diode (XRD) arrays are often used to measure x-ray spectra vs. time from spectrally continuous x-ray sources such as hohlraums. A priori models of the incident x-ray spectrum enable a more accurate unfolding of the x-ray flux as compared to the standard technique of modifying a thermal Planckian with spectral peaks or dips at the response energy of each filtered XRD channel. A model x-ray spectrum consisting of a thermal Planckian, a Gaussian at higher energy, and (in some cases) a high energy background provides an excellent fit to XRD-array measurements of x-ray emission from laser heated hohlraums. If high-resolution measurements of part of the x-ray emission spectrum are available, that information can be included in the a priori model. In cases where the x-ray emission spectrum is not Planckian, candidate x-ray spectra can be allowed or excluded by fitting them to measured XRD voltages. Examples are presented from the filtered XRD arrays, named Dante, at the National Ignition Facility and the Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

Rest-wavelength fiducials for the ITER core imaging x-ray spectrometer.

Absolute wavelength references are needed to derive the plasma velocities from the Doppler shift of a given line emitted by a moving plasma. We show that such reference standards exist for the strongest x-ray line in neonlike W(64+), which has become the line of choice for the ITER (Latin the way) core imaging x-ray spectrometer. Close-by standards are the Hf Lβ(3) line and the Ir Lα(2) line, which bracket the W(64+) line by ±30 eV; other standards are given by the Ir Lα(1) and Lα(2) lines and the Hf Lβ(1) and Lβ(2) lines, which bracket the W(64+) line by ±40 and ±160 eV, respectively. The reference standards can be produced by an x-ray tube built into the ITER spectrometer. We present spectra of the reference lines obtained with an x-ray microcalorimeter and compare them to spectra of the W(64+) line obtained both with an x-ray microcalorimeter and a crystal spectrometer.

Evolution of X-ray calorimeter spectrometers at the Lawrence Livermore Electron Beam Ion Trap

High-resolution broadband, non-dispersive x-ray calorimeter spectrometers have been under development for spaceflight since 1984. As an offshoot of the significant NASA investment in this technology, we have developed a series of calorimeter instruments for laboratory use and installed them at the Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT) facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The calorimeter instruments at EBIT have significantly enhanced the capabilities of our laboratory astrophysics program including broad-band measurements of emission from charge exchange recombination and absolute cross sections for collisional excitation. The first Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) calorimeter instrument was installed at the EBIT facility in July of 2000 and has seen two major upgrades. The performance of the instrument has significantly improved from the initial instrument that had a resolving power of ~500 at 6 keV, and essentially no quantum efficiency at energies above 20 keV, to the current instrument that has a resolving power of 1350 and 95% quantum efficiency at 6 keV, and a resolving power of 1800 and 32% quantum efficiency at 60 keV.