title: Picosecond-resolution soft-x-ray laser plasma interferometry.
abstract: We describe a soft-x-ray laser interferometry technique that allows two-dimensional diagnosis of plasma electron density with picosecond time resolution. It consists of the combination of a robust high-throughput amplitude-division interferometer and a 14.7-nm transient-inversion soft-x-ray laser that produces approximately 5-ps pulses. Because of its picosecond resolution and short-wavelength scalability, this technique has the potential for extending the high inherent precision of soft-x-ray laser interferometry to the study of very dense plasmas of significant fundamental and practical interest, such as those investigated for inertial confinement fusion. Results of its use in the diagnostics of dense large-scale laser-created plasmas are presented.
authors.affiliation: National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Science and Technology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA. rage@engr.colostate.edu
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Filevich
authors.forename: Jorge J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Rocca
authors.forename: Mario C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Marconi
authors.forename: Raymond F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.forename: Roisin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Keenan
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nilsen
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Vyacheslav N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Shlyaptsev