A STUDY OF LASER PLASMAS AS X-RAY SOURCES IN THE 1-10 KEV SPECTRAL REGION

An experimental investigation on X-ray emission from laser-produced pl asmas is presented and the properties of such an emission of interest for application purposes are examined. Plasmas were generated by focus ing 1 mu m, 3 ns Nd laser pulses onto Al and Cu targets at an intensit y of 10(13) W/cm(2). The temporal evolution of the emission and its sp ectral features were investigated by using an X-ray streak-camera and an X-ray photodiode. In the case of Cu targets, the analysis of the em ission showed two spectral components. The main component was centered at approximate to 1.2 keV and a minor component, whose intensity was measured to be 10(-3) of the previous component, was observed at appro ximate to 7 keV. The X-ray conversion efficiency, in the investigated spectral region, was measured to be 1% for Cu targets and 0.3% for Al targets.