[en] We report on soft x-ray scattering experiments on cryogenic hydrogen and simple metal targets. As a source of intense and ultrashort soft x-ray pulses we have used free-electron laser radiation at 92 eV photon energy from FLASH at DESY, Hamburg. X-ray pulses with energies up to 100 (micro)J and durations below 50 fs provide interaction with the target leading simultaneously to plasma formation and scattering. Experiments exploiting both of these interactions have been carried out, using the same experimental setup. Firstly, recording of soft x-ray inelastic scattering from near-solid density hydrogen plasmas at few electronvolt temperatures confirms the feasibility of this diagnostics technique. Secondly, the soft x-ray excitation of few electronvolt solid-density plasmas in simple metals could be studied by recording soft x-ray line and continuum emission integrated over emission times from fs to ns

[en] The basic idea is to implement Thomson scattering with free electron laser (FEL) radiation at near-solid density plasmas as a diagnostic method which allows the determination of plasma temperatures and densities in the warm dense matter (WDM) regime (free electron density of n_e = 10²¹-10²⁶ cm^-3 with temperatures of several eV). The WDM regime [1] at near-solid density (n_e = 10²¹-10²² cm^-3) is of special interest because, it is where the transition from an ideal plasma to a degenerate, strongly coupled plasma occurs. A systematic understanding of this largely unknown WDM domain is crucial for the modeling and understanding of contemporary plasma experiments, like laser shock-wave or Z-pinch experiments as well as for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments as the plasma evolution follows its path through this domain

[en] We present collective Thomson scattering with soft x-ray free electron laser radiation as a method to track the evolution of warm dense matter plasmas with ∼200 fs time resolution. In a pump-probe scheme an 800 nm laser heats a 20 (micro)m hydrogen droplet to the plasma state. After a variable time delay in the order of ps the plasma is probed by an x-ray ultra violet (XUV) pulse which scatters from the target and is recorded spectrally. Alternatively, in a self-Thomson scattering experiment, a single XUV pulse heats the target while a portion of its photons are being scattered probing the target. From such inelastic x-ray scattering spectra free electron temperature and density can be inferred giving insight on relaxation time scales in plasmas as well as the equation of state. We prove the feasibility of this method in the XUV range utilizing the free electron laser facility in Hamburg, FLASH. We recorded Thomson scattering spectra for hydrogen plasma, both in the self-scattering and in the pump-probe mode using optical laser heating