Japanese team maps plasma from 10 to 500 nm with one X-ray pulse
A team led by researchers at Japan’s National Institute for Fusion Science and Osaka University developed a beamstop-free X-ray scattering method to capture plasma structures across 10–500 nm in one exposure. In experiments at the SACLA X-ray laser facility, the method tracked plasma rarefaction over picosecond timescales; simulations indicated that a few nanometres of initial plasma growth can reduce laser-energy absorption to about one-quarter.
Bottom line — The team’s single-shot method extends measurable spatial and temporal ranges by about an order of magnitude, according to Phys.org.
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Phys.org reports that the setup uses layered metal filters to attenuate the intense central X-ray beam, avoiding the usual beamstop.
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The study, published in Communications Physics, used a laser-driven array of silicon rods as its plasma target.
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The researchers measured a rarefaction-front speed of 12.4 ± 7.5 km/s and estimated a bulk electron temperature of 11 eV, according to the paper.
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Simulations found absorption fell from roughly 60–70% to 15–20% as the initial plasma scale length increased, the paper reports.
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The authors say the technique could aid studies of turbulent plasma and may also suit samples that change over time or cannot be measured repeatedly.
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