Abstract

The use of a Hartmann wave-front sensor to accurately measure the line-integrated electron density gradients formed in laser-produced and z-pinch plasma experiments is examined. This wave-front sensor may be used with a soft-x-ray laser as well as with incoherent line emission at multikilovolt x-ray energies. This diagnostic is significantly easier to use than interferometery and moiré deflectometry, both of which have been demonstrated with soft-x-ray lasers. This scheme is experimentally demonstrated in the visible region by use of a Shack–Hartmann wave-front sensor and a liquid-crystal spatial light modulator to simulate a phase profile that could occur when an x-ray probe passes through a plasma. The merits of using a Hartmann sensor include a wide dynamic range, broadband or low-coherence-length light capability, high x-ray efficiency, two-dimensional gradient determination, multiplexing capability, and experimental simplicity. Hartmann sensors could also be utilized for wavelength testing of extreme-ultraviolet lithography components and x-ray phase imaging of biological specimens.

© 2003 Optical Society of America

Refractive microlens array for wave-front analysis in the medium to hard x-ray range

Sheridan C. Mayo and Brett Sexton
Opt. Lett. 29(8) 866-868 (2004)

Refraction effects on x-ray and ultraviolet interferometric probing of laser-produced plasmas

Raymond F. Smith, James Dunn, Joseph Nilsen, James R. Hunter, Vyacheslev N. Shlyaptsev, Jorge J. Rocca, Jorge Filevich, and Mario C. Marconi
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 20(1) 254-259 (2003)

Talbot–Lau x-ray deflectometry phase-retrieval methods for electron density diagnostics in high-energy density experiments

Maria Pia Valdivia, Dan Stutman, Christian Stoeckl, Chad Mileham, Ildar A. Begishev, Jake Bromage, and Sean P. Regan
Appl. Opt. 57(2) 138-145 (2018)

Wave-front phase measurements of high-order harmonic beams by use of point-diffraction interferometry

D. G. Lee, J. J. Park, J. H. Sung, and C. H. Nam
Opt. Lett. 28(6) 480-482 (2003)

Application of x-ray-laser interferometry to study high-density laser-produced plasmas

A. S. Wan, L. B. Da Silva, T. W. Barbee, R. Cauble, P. Celliers, S. B. Libby, R. A. London, J. C. Moreno, J. E. Trebes, and F. Weber
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 13(2) 447-453 (1996)