Short-scalelength plasma spectroscopy

• Main Author: Forsman, Andrew
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/2918

Traditional x-ray plasma spectroscopy techniques employ long scalelength laser-produced plasmas in an attempt to moderate the density and temperature gradients present in the ablation plasma. These approaches have the disadvantages that the large plasma may lead to significant opacity effects, lasers having substantial power must be used and numerical simulations of the laser-produced plasma frequently must be used to interpret the data. As an alternative technique the use of short-scalelength plasmas as sources for x-ray spectroscopy have been investigated. High-resolution silicon K-shell spectra from a short-scalelength, laser-produced plasma have been obtained in temporally and spatially integrated measurements. Density-sensitive line-intensity ratios of the helium like satellites and that of the lithium-like satellites are employed simultaneously with temperature-sensitive line-intensity ratios between the helium and lithium-like satellites to assess their diagnostic value. A constant, uniform plasma model is used to interpret the data. It appears that the emission of dielectronic satellite lines is dominated by a region with a relatively well-defined density and temperature in the ablation zone. === Science, Faculty of === Physics and Astronomy, Department of === Graduate