X-UV IMAGING WITH BACKSIDE ILLUMINATED CCDS IN LASER-MATTER INTERACTION EXPERIMENTS

The spectral sensitivity of a thinned backside illuminated CCD (TH 739 5A from Thomson TCS [1]) has been studied in the 10 to 20 nm spectral range. We describe the readout device used for checks on the laser pla sma source of the Ecole Polytechnique (LULI), as well as a comparison between experimental results and theoretical simulations. A good agree ment between calculations and experiment is obtained, the L absorption edge of silicon giving the expected discontinuity of sensitivity arou nd 12.3 nm. A relative spectral response of this CCD is provided for t he investigated spectral range. We also describe two devices fitted wi th this detector : a soft X-ray Schwarzschild microscope working at 19 .5 nm and a soft X-ray spectrometer working between 1 and 4 nm. Experi mental results obtained with these devices on laser-matter interaction experiments outline the gain in sensitivity with respect to films gen erally used.