Jd. Bauer et al., SIMULATION AND ANALYSIS OF AN X-RAY-HEATED BORON-NITRIDE FOIL, Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics, 52(6), 1995, pp. 6736-6752
We analyze an experiment performed at the Nova laser facility, at Lawr
ence Livermore National Laboratory, in which x rays, produced by a gol
d burn-through foil, heated an 1800-Angstrom boron-nitride (BN) foil.
The BN foil was not hydrodynamically tamped and therefore provides an
excellent example for testing our success at modeling systems with lar
ge density and temperature gradients. A time-integrated absorption spe
ctrum was obtained. This spectrum reveals He-like and H-like boron fea
tures, He-like nitrogen features, as well as Li-Like satellites to the
resonance Lines for both boron and nitrogen. The ALTAIR radiation hyd
rodynamics code and the TOTAL line-shape code were the basic instrumen
ts used in the analysis. Simulations address the temporal evolution of
the temperature and density profiles as well as the ionization balanc
e for the x-ray driven boron nitride foil. A synthesized spectrum is c
ompared with the experimental absorption spectrum, and particular atte
ntion is given to the Li-Like satellite structure. The analysis of thi
s seemingly simple experiment clearly reveals both current strengths a
nd inadequacies in modeling hot dense matter.