Characterization of germanium stripe x-ray lasers

摘要

One method of improving the transverse spatial coherence of x-ray lasers (XRLS) is by adaptive spatial filtering of XRL apertures using geometric shaping in the form of bowtie or wedge XRLS. However, we must maintain the desired geometric shapes in exploding foil or slab configurations during the lasing period. As a first step toward understanding lasing in such geometries we study the behavior of simple stripe XRLs. Past experience with stripe XRLs deposited on thick plastic substrates resulted in significantly weaker laser intensities as compared to line-focused slab XRLs. Possible reasons for this intensity reduction of stripe XRLs could include mixing at the laser boundary, and changes in plasma, kinetics, and hydrodynamic properties which affect laser gains and propagation. We will present experimental and theoretical characterizations of germanium line-focused and stripe XRLs. Key experimental parameters we will study include images of emission profiles of the laser blow-off, angular divergences, XRL output intensities, and ionization balances as we vary XRL designs. We will compare the experimental results with two-dimensional (2-D) laser deposition and hydrodynamics simulations using LASNEX, and study the changes in ionization balances and level populations from post-processing LASNEX results.