X-RAY SPECTROSCOPIC STUDIES OF HOT, DENSE IRON PLASMA FORMED BY SUBPICOSECOND HIGH-INTENSITY KRF LASER IRRADIATION

The time-integrated x-ray emission from a hot, dense iron plasma has b een recorded. This iron plasma was created when a target with a 1000-A ngstrom-thick iron layer buried beneath 1000 Angstrom of elastic was i rradiated by a 300 fs pulse of 249 nm laser light at an intensity of a pproximately 10(17) W cm(-2). Two models have been used to construct a synthetic x-ray spectrum. The first employs detailed, spectroscopical ly accurate atomic data and the second uses a local thermodynamic equi librium opacity model. The detailed model shows fairly good agreement with experiment whereas the opacity model only shows agreement in the gross features. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.