[en] X rays at high photon energies are needed to backlight and image large objects of high opacity on large lasers, such as the National Ignition Facility, or large pulsed power facilities, such as ATLAS. Attenuators and filters are usually used to bring the signals to scale and to filter the x rays from un-needed low energy components. As the x-ray energy increases, the secondary effect of the interactions of the x rays with the filter or attenuator material must be addressed. This is especially true when one considers using the very high energy x rays from the hot electrons generated during the interaction of intense lasers with high Z materials. We will show how these concerns can be quantified and reduced in at least one case; an experiment on the OMEGA laser facility, designed to investigate the scaling of absolute x-ray yield and conversion efficiency with laser energy and power. This investigation is part of the study to determine the feasibility of high-energy backlighters using Ge emission near 10.3 keV. We will also show how these results apply to imaging at larger x-ray energies

[en] This is a summary of scientific work to be performed on the OMEGA laser system located at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics in Rochester New York. The work is funded through Science and ICF Campagins and falls under the category of laser-driven High-Energy Density Physics experiments. This summary is presented to the Rochester scheduling committee on an annual basis for scheduling and planning purposes.

[en] High-energy x-rays, > 10-keV, can be efficiently produced from ultrafast laser target interactions with many applications to dense target materials in Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) and High-Energy Density Physics (HEDP). These same x-rays can also be applied to measurements of low-density materials inside high-density hohlraum environments. In the experiments presented, high-energy x-ray images of laser-shocked polystyrene are produced through phase contrast imaging. The plastic targets are nominally transparent to traditional x-ray absorption but show detailed features in regions of high density gradients due to refractive effects often called phase contrast imaging. The 200-TW Trident laser is used both to produce the x-ray source and to shock the polystyrene target. X-rays at 17-keV produced from 2-ps, 100-J laser interactions with a 12-micron molybdenum wire are used to produce a small source size, required for optimizing refractive effects. Shocks are driven in the 1-mm thick polystyrene target using 2-ns, 250-J, 532-nm laser drive with phase plates. X-ray images of shocks compare well to 1-D hydro calculations, HELIOS-CR.

[en] Supersonic and diffusive radiation flow is an important test problem for the radiative transfer models used in radiation-hydrodynamics computer codes owing to solutions being accessible via analytic and numeric methods. We present experimental results with which we compare these solutions by studying supersonic and diffusive flow in the laboratory. We present results of higher-accuracy experiments than previously possible studying radiation flow through up to 7 high-temperature mean free paths of low-density, chlorine-doped polystyrene foam and silicon dioxide aerogel contained by an Au tube. Measurements of the heat front position and absolute measurements of the x-ray emission arrival at the end of the tube are used to test numerical and analytical models. We find excellent absolute agreement with simulations provided that the opacity and the equation of state are adjusted within expected uncertainties; analytical models provide a good phenomenological match to measurements but are not in quantitative agreement due to their limited scope. - Highlights: • The supersonic, diffusion of x-rays through sub-solid density materials is studied. • The data are more diffusive and of higher velocity than any prior work. • Scaled 1D analytic diffusion models reproduce the heat front evolution. • Refined radiation transport approximations are tested in numerical simulations. • Simulations match the data if material properties are adjusted within uncertainties