title: Characterization and control of plasma density distribution for the development of solid-target x-ray lasers.
abstract: By using deflectometry of a longitudinal probe pulse and reflective interferometry of a transverse probe pulse to resolve the spatiotemporal distribution of the preformed plasma, we characterize and control the plasma density distribution near the target surface for the development of solid-target x-ray lasers. We show that the use of prepulses in an ignitor-heater scheme can increase the scale length of the preformed plasma and how the effect varies with target materials. Many important issues crucial to x-ray lasing such as electron density distribution, electron temperature, and the optimal timing between pumping pulses can be resolved with these methods.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
authors.forename: M-C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: P-H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: H-E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: D-L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: C-H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: J-Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: S-Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chen