HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGING OF LASER-PRODUCED PLASMAS AT A WAVELENGTH OF 130-ANGSTROM BY A NORMAL-INCIDENCE MULTILAYER-MIRROR MICROSCOPE

Laser-produced plasmas were imaged by a microscope consisting of spher ical, primary, and secondary mirrors in a Cassegrain-type optical conf iguration. The mirrors were coated with 40 periods of Mo and Si and ha d a peak reflectance of approximately 60% at a wavelength of 130 angst rom. Nb, Au, and Al targets were irradiated by as many as 24 beams of the Omega laser at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics at the Universi ty of Rochester. The images were recorded on Kodak 101 film, and the r esolution was limited by the 10-mum emulsion grain size. Two different secondary mirrors produced images with a magnification of 0.8 or 2.2, and a variety of plasma emission features were recorded with 5-mum (0 .6-arcsec) resolution in the target plane. The possibility of operatin g a similar microscope in the wavelength region of 34-50 angstrom is d iscussed.