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We present calculations of x-ray scattering spectra based on ionic and electronic structure factors that are computed from a new model for warm dense matter. In this model, which has no free parameters, the ionic structure is determined consistently with the electronic structure of the bound and free states. The x-ray scattering spectrum is thus fully determined by the plasma temperature, density and nuclear charge, and the experimental parameters. The combined model of warm dense matter and of the x-ray scattering theory is validated against an experiment on room-temperature, solid beryllium. It is then applied to experiments on warm dense beryllium and aluminum. Generally good agreement is found with the experiments. However, some significant discrepancies are revealed and appraised. Based on the strength of our model, we discuss the current state of x-ray scattering experiments on warm dense matter and their potential to determine plasma parameters, to discriminate among models, and to reveal interesting and difficult to model physics in dense plasmas.

Spatially resolved K-shell spectroscopy is used here to investigate the interaction of an ultrashort laser pulse (λ=800 nm, τ=40 fs) with a Ti foil under intense irradiation (Iλ(2)=2×10(18)Wμm(2)cm(-2)) and the following fast electron generation and transport into the target. The effect of laser pulse polarization (p, s, and circular) on the Kα yield and line shape is probed. The radial structure of intensity and width of the lines, obtained by a discretized Abel deconvolution algorithm, suggests an annular distribution of both the hot electron propagation into the target and the target temperature. An accurate modeling of Kα line shapes was performed, revealing temperature gradients, going from a few eV up to 15-20 eV, depending on the pulse polarization. Results are discussed in terms of mechanisms of hot electron generation and of their transport through the preplasma in front of the target.

The observation of Doppler splitting in K-shell x-ray lines emitted from optically thin dopants is used to infer implosion velocities of up to 70 cm/μs in wire-array and gas-puff Z pinches at drive currents of 15-20 MA. These data can benchmark numerical implosion models, which produce reasonable agreement with the measured velocity in the emitting region. Doppler splitting is obscured in lines with strong opacity, but red-shifted absorption produced by the cooler halo of material backlit by the hot core assembling on axis can be used to diagnose velocity in the trailing mass.

We present a systematic study of Au charge state distributions (CSDs) from low density, nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium plasmas created in the Livermore electron beam ion traps (EBIT-I and EBIT-II). X-ray emission from Ni-like to Kr-like Au ions has been recorded from monoenergetic electron beam plasmas having E(beam)=2.66, 2.92, 3.53, and 4.54 keV, and the CSDs of the beam plasmas have been inferred by fitting the collisionally excited line transitions and radiative recombination emission features with synthetic spectra. We have modeled the beam plasmas using a collisional-radiative code with various treatments of the atomic structure for the complex M- and N-shell ions and find that only models with extensive doubly excited states can properly account for the dielectronic recombination (DR) channels that control the CSDs. This finding would be unremarkable for plasmas with thermal electron distributions, where many such states are sampled, and the importance of DR is well established. But in an EBIT source, the beam is resonant with only a subset of such states having spectator electrons in orbitals with high principal quantum number n (8≤n≤20). The inclusion of such states in the model was also necessary to obtain agreement with observed stabilizing transitions in the x-ray spectra.

We report experiments demonstrating enhanced coupling efficiencies of high-contrast laser irradiation to nanofabricated conical targets. Peak temperatures near 200 eV are observed with modest laser energy (10 J), revealing similar hot-electron localization and material heating to reduced mass targets (RMTs), despite having a significantly larger mass. Collisional particle-in-cell simulations attribute the enhancement to self-generated resistive (approximately 10 MG) magnetic fields forming within the curvature of the cone wall, which confine energetic electrons to heat a reduced volume at the tip. This represents a different electron confinement mechanism (magnetic, as opposed to electrostatic sheath confinement in RMTs) controllable by target shape.

Measurements of the L -shell emission of highly charged gold ions were made under controlled laboratory conditions using the SuperEBIT electron beam ion trap, allowing detailed spectral observations of lines from Fe-like Au53+ through Ne-like Au69+ . Using atomic data from the Flexible Atomic Code, we have identified strong 3d_{52}-->2p_{32} emission features that can be used to diagnose the charge state distribution in high energy density plasmas, such as those found in the laser entrance hole of hot hohlraum radiation sources. We provide collisional-radiative calculations of the average ion charge Z as a function of temperature and density, which can be used to relate charge state distributions inferred from 3d_{52}-->2p_{32} emission features to plasma conditions, and investigate the effects of plasma density on calculated L -shell Au emission spectra.

We present measurements of the fast-electron-relaxation time in short-pulse (0.5 ps) laser-solid interactions for laser intensities of 10(17), 10(18), and 10(19) Wcm2, using a picosecond time-resolved x-ray spectrometer and a time-integrated electron spectrometer. We find that the laser coupling to hot electrons increases as the laser intensity becomes relativistic, and that the thermalization of fast electrons occurs over time scales on the order of 10 ps at all laser intensities. The experimental data are analyzed using a combination of models that include Kalpha generation, collisional coupling, and plasma expansion.

The compact multipulse terawatt (COMET) laser facility at LLNL was used to irradiate Al-coated 2-50 microm Ti foils with approximately 10(19) W cm(-2) , 500 fs, 3-6 J laser pulses. Laser-plasma interactions on the front side of the target generate hot electrons with sufficient energy to excite inner-shell electrons in Ti, creating Kalpha emission which has been measured using a focusing spectrometer with spatial resolution aimed at the back surface of the targets. The spatial extent of the emission varies with target thickness. The high spectral resolution (lambda/Deltalambda approximately equal to 3800) is sufficient to measure broadening of the Kalpha emission feature due to the emergence of blueshifted satellites from ionized Ti in a heated region of the target. A self-consistent-field model is used to spectroscopically diagnose thermal electron temperatures up to 40 eV in the strongly coupled Ti plasmas.

X-ray line emission from 2l-nl' transitions in Ne-like Kr and nearby ions has been observed from approximately 1 microm Kr clusters irradiated by fs-scale laser pulses at the JAERI facility in Kyoto, Japan. The incident laser intensity reached 10(19) W/cm2, with pulse energies from 50 to 300 mJ and pulse durations from 30 to 500 fs. The dependence of the x-ray spectral features and intensity on the incident laser intensity is rather weak, indicating that the 1-2 ps cluster lifetimes limit the number of ions beyond Ne-like Kr that can be produced by collisional ionization. Lines from F- to Al-like Kr emitted from the cluster plasmas have been identified using data from the relativistic multiconfiguration flexible atomic code. A collisional-radiative model based on these data has been constructed and used to determine that the cluster plasma has electron densities near 10(22) cm(-3), temperatures of a few hundred eV, and hot electron fractions of a few percent.

This paper presents the results of a broad investigation into the effects of the electron energy distribution function on the predictions of nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium collisional-radiative atomic kinetics models. The effects of non-Maxwellian and suprathermal ("hot") electron distributions on collisional rates (including three-body recombination) are studied. It is shown that most collisional rates are fairly insensitive to the functional form and the characteristic (central or average) energy of the electron distribution function as long as the characteristic energy is larger than the threshold energy for the collisional process. Collisional excitation and ionization rates are, however, highly sensitive to the number of hot electrons. This permits the development of robust spectroscopic diagnostics that can be used to characterize the electron density, bulk electron temperature, and hot electron fraction of plasmas with nonequilibrium electron distribution functions. Hot electrons are shown to increase and spread out plasma charge state distributions, amplify the intensities of emission lines fed by direct collisional excitation and radiative cascades, and alter the structure of satellite features in both K - and L -shell spectra. The characteristic energy, functional form, and spatial properties of hot electron distributions in plasmas are open to characterization through their effects on high-energy continuum and line emission and on the polarization of spectral lines.

Mo wire X pinches typically emit several x-ray bursts from a bright spot near the crossing of the X -pinch wires. Streak camera images of L -shell line emission from Mo wire X pinches have been analyzed using a non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) collisional-radiative atomic kinetics model, providing temperature and density profiles with approximately 50 ps time resolution over the approximately 350 ps x-ray bursts. In conjunction with nonspectroscopic measurements, the analysis is used to propose a picture of the dynamic evolution of the X -pinch plasma. The L -shell spectra from the first x-ray burst indicate an electron density near 10(22) cm(-3) and an electron temperature near 1 keV; subsequent x-ray bursts have L -shell spectra that indicate electron temperatures slightly above 1 keV and electron densities near 10(20) and 10(21) cm(-3). The size of the L -shell line-emitting region is estimated to be near 10 microm for the first x-ray burst and much larger for the later bursts. It is proposed that inner-shell excitation of low ionization stages of Mo in a microm -scale plasma region contributes to the observed radiation from the first micropinch, which typically emits a short burst of >3 keV radiation and has L -shell spectra characterized by broad spectral lines overlaying an intense continuum.

This paper presents a detailed investigation of the temporal, spatial, and spectroscopic properties of L-shell radiation from 0.8 to 1.0 MA Mo x pinches. Time-resolved measurements of x-ray radiation and both time-gated and time-integrated spectra and pinhole images are presented and analyzed. High-current x pinches are found to have complex spatial and temporal structures. A collisional-radiative kinetic model has been developed and used to interpret L-shell Mo spectra. The model includes the ground state of every ionization stage of Mo and detailed structure for the O-, F-, Ne-, Na-, and Mg-like ionization stages. Hot electron beams generated by current-carrying electrons in the x pinch are modeled by a non-Maxwellian electron distribution function and have significant influence on L-shell spectra. The results of 20 Mo x-pinch shots with wire diameters from 24 to 62 microm have been modeled. Overall, the modeled spectra fit the experimental spectra well and indicate for time-integrated spectra electron densities between 2 x 10(21) and 2 x 10(22) cm(-3), electron temperatures between 700 and 850 eV, and hot electron fractions between 3% and 7%. Time-gated spectra exhibit wide variations in temperature and density of plasma hot spots during the same discharge.

Strong L-shell x-ray emission has been obtained from Kr clusters formed in gas jets and irradiated by 60-500-fs laser pulses. Spectral lines from the F-, Ne- Na-, and Mg-like charge states of Kr have been identified from highly resolved x-ray spectra. Spectral line intensities are used in conjunction with a detailed time-dependent collisional-radiative model to diagnose the electron distribution functions of plasmas formed in various gas jet nozzles with various laser pulse durations. It is shown that L-shell spectra formed by relatively long nanosecond-laser pulses can be well described by a steady-state model without hot electrons when opacity effects are included. In contrast, adequate modeling of L-shell spectra from highly transient and inhomogeneous femtosecond-laser plasmas requires including the influence of hot electrons. It is shown that femtosecond-laser interaction with gas jets from conical nozzles produces plasmas with higher ionization balances than plasmas formed by gas jets from Laval nozzles, in agreement with previous work for femtosecond laser interaction with Ar clusters.