Application of a picosecond soft x-ray source to time-resolved plasma dynamics

Authors

• J. Workman, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• M. Nantel, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Anatoly Maksimchuk, University of MichiganFollow
• Donald P. Umstadter, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

1-20-1997

Comments

Published by American Institute of Physics. Applied Physics Letters 70, 312 (1997). © 1997 American Institute of Physics. Permission to use. http://apl.aip.org/.

Abstract

We demonstrate the application of an ultrashort x-ray source as an external probe to measure plasma dynamics. The plasma is generated by a 100-fs Ti: sapphire laser focused onto thin metallic films. Time-resolved spectroscopy of the gold x-ray probe transmission through a perturbed 1000 Å aluminum film reveals redshifts of the L-shell photoabsorption edge. We show that the dynamic behavior of this shift is consistent with the relaxation of the aluminum following the compression generated by a shock wave traveling through the film. An analytic plasma model, with comparison to a numerical hydrodynamics model, indicates compression up to 1.4 times solid density.