Wenhai Zhang

Opacity Studies of Silicon in Radiatively Heated Plasma

Measurements of the opacity of silicon at high temperature and high density are reported. A silicon dioxide foam was heated by eight nanosecond laser beams while a backlighter X-ray source was produced with a picosecond laser. Absorptions of the 1-2 transitions of Si XII through Si VI were observed in the wavelength range from 6.6 to 7.1 A. The experimental results are simulated with theoretical calculations under local thermodynamic equilibrium using a detailed level accounting model and can be reproduced in general when the effects of the oxygen in the SiO2 are taken into account.

Elimination of higher-order diffraction using zigzag transmission grating in soft x-ray region

We present a realization of the sinusoidal transmission function using a series of zigzag-profiled strips where the transmission takes on the binary values 0 and 1 in a two-dimensional distribution. A zigzag transmission grating of 1000 line/mm has been fabricated and demonstrated on the soft x-ray beam of synchrotron radiation. The axial single-order diffraction indicates that the zigzag transmission grating is adequate for spectroscopic application.

K-shell transition absorption measurement of radiatively heated Al plasma

High temperature aluminum plasmas have been produced by irradiating the layered Au–Al foils with the smoothed high power laser at the Xingguang II laser facility. High-resolution transmission spectrum of the Al plasma has been measured by using penta-erythritol tetrakis (hydroxymethy) methane C(CH2OH)4 crystal spectrometer. Absorption lines of the aluminum ion transition 1s−np(n=3,4,5) in the region of 0.61–0.70 nm, have been observed and identified. The unresolved transition array model has been introduced to calculate the transmission spectra of aluminum plasma. The measured transmission spectrum has been compared with those calculated.

Quasi suppression of higher-order diffractions with inclined rectangular apertures gratings

Advances in the fundamentals and applications of diffraction gratings have received much attention. However, conventional diffraction gratings often suffer from higher-order diffraction contamination. Here, we introduce a simple and compact single optical element, named inclined rectangular aperture gratings (IRAG), for quasi suppression of higher-order diffractions. We show, both in the visible light and soft x-ray regions, that IRAG can significantly suppress higher-order diffractions with moderate diffraction efficiency. Especially, as no support strut is needed to maintain the free-standing patterns, the IRAG is highly advantageous to the extreme-ultraviolet and soft x-ray regions. The diffraction efficiency of the IRAG and the influences of fabrication constraints are also discussed. The unique quasi-single order diffraction properties of IRAG may open the door to a wide range of photonic applications.

The impact of low-Z impurities on x-ray conversion efficiency from laser-produced plasmas of low-density gold foam targets

It is an important approach to improve the x-ray conversion efficiency of laser-ablated high-Z plasmas by using low initial density materials for various applications. However, unavoidable low-Z impurities in the manufacture process of low-density high-Z foam targets will depress this effect. A general easy-to-use analytical model based on simulations was developed to evaluate the quantitative impact of impurities within the gold foam target on laser to x-ray conversion efficiency. In addition, the x-ray conversion efficiencies of 1 g∕cm3 gold foams with two different initial contents of impurities were experimentally investigated. Good agreements have been achieved between the model results and experiments.

Spectroscopic absorption measurement of a low-Z plasma

Low-Z plasmas have been produced by x-ray radiative heating of a low-Z sample on the “Xingguang II” laser facility. High-resolution transmission spectra of the low-Z plasma (CHO) have been measured by using a flat field grating spectrometer. Absorption lines of oxygen and carbon ions in the region from 1.6 nm to 5.0 nm have been observed clearly and identified. The unresolved transition array model (UTA) has been introduced to calculate the transmission spectra of the CHO plasma. The measured transmission spectra have been compared with the calculated ones and the results of other works.

Enhanced x-ray emissions from Au-Gd mixture targets ablated by a high-power nanosecond laser

As an important x-ray source, enhancement of x-ray emissions from laser-produced plasmas is imperative for various applications. High-Z Au-Gd mixture targets are proposed to enhance the laser to x-ray conversion efficiency compared to pure Au target. In the experiments, a 1 ns frequency-tripled (351 nm wavelength) laser light was used to obtain an intensity of 3×1014 W/cm2 on the targets. The x-ray spectra, total absolute x-ray emissions of all space, M-band fraction and backscattering from pure Au and Au-Gd mixture have been measured, respectively. It is shown that the absolute laser to x-ray conversion efficiency for the Au-Gd mixture containing 60% gold by atom is 47.7%, which has a 15% enhancement compared with that of the pure Au target. The experimental results are consistent with the radiation hydrodynamic simulations.

Demonstration of enhancement of x-ray flux with foam gold compared to solid gold

Experiments have been conducted to compare the re-emission from foam gold with a 0.3 g cc−1 density and solid gold in a SGIII prototype laser facility. Measurements of the re-emission x-ray flux demonstrate that emission is enhanced by the low density foam gold compared to the solid gold under the same conditions. The emission fraction increases with time and is concentrated on soft x-ray flux between 0.1–1 keV. The simulation results with Multi 1D agree with the experimental results. There are potential advantages to using foam walls for improving the emission and soft x-ray flux in hohlraums.

Experimental demonstration of laser to x-ray conversion enhancements with low density gold targets

The enhancement of laser to x-ray conversion efficiencies using low density gold targets [W. L. Shang, J. M. Yang, and Y. S. Dong, Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 094105 (2013)] is demonstrated. Laser to x-ray conversion efficiencies with 6.3% and 12% increases are achieved with target densities of 1 and 0.25 g/cm3, when compared with that of a solid gold target (19.3 g/cm3). Experimental data and numerical simulations are in good agreement. The enhancement is caused by larger x-ray emission zone lengths formed in low density targets, which is in agreement with the simulation results.

Optimization of x-ray emission from under-critical CH foam coated gold targets by laser irradiation

Under-critical CH foam coated gold targets benefit laser-to-x-ray emission because CH plasma inhibits gold plasma expansion, which leads to higher gold plasma density and temperature. Conversely, the CH foam partially absorbs the incident laser energy, which lowers laser absorption into the gold plasma. An analytical model is built to solve the laser collisional deposition fraction in the CH foam layer. The optimization of x-ray emission from under-critical CH foam coated gold targets by laser irradiation is obtained numerically with different CH foam densities and thicknesses. The plasma and x-ray emission properties are investigated. It is found that different CH thicknesses lead to different increase mechanisms for x-ray emission. The x-ray spectrum distributions show that most of the x-ray emission increases occur with photon energy less than 2000 eV.