Spectral analysis of x-ray emission created by intense laser irradiation of copper materials.

ABSTRACT

We have measured the x-ray emission, primarily from K(α),K(ß), and He(α) lines, of elemental copper foil and "foam" targets irradiated with a mid-10(16) W/cm(2) laser pulse. The copper foam at 0.1 times solid density is observed to produce 50% greater He(α) line emission than copper foil, and the measured signal is well-fit by a sum of three synthetic spectra generated by the atomic physics code FLYCHK. Additionally, spectra from both targets reveal characteristic inner shell K(α) transitions from hot electron interaction with the bulk copper. However, only the larger-volume foam target produced significant K(ß) radiation, confirming a lower bulk temperature in the higher volume sample.