title: A high-resolution coherent transition radiation diagnostic for laser-produced electron transport studies (invited).
abstract: High-resolution images of the rear-surface optical emission from high-intensity (I approximately 10(19) W/cm(2)) laser illuminated metal foils have been recorded using coherent transition radiation (CTR). CTR is generated as relativistic electrons, generated in high-intensity laser-plasma interactions, exit the target's rear surface and move into vacuum. A transition radiation diagnostic (TRD) records time-integrated images in a 24 nm bandwidth window around lambda=529 nm. The optical transmission at lambda=1053 nm, the laser wavelength, is 15 orders of magnitude lower than the transmission at the wavelength of interest, lambda=527 nm. The detector is a scientific grade charge-coupled device (CCD) camera that operates with a signal-to-noise ratio of 10(3) and has a dynamic range of 10(4). The TRD has demonstrated a spatial resolution of 1.4 microm over a 1 mm field of view, limited only by the CCD pixel size.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623-1299, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Storm
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Begishev
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Meyerhofer
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mileham
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Myatt
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Nilson
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Sangster
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stoeckl
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Theobald
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Zuegel