Measurements of laser-hole boring into overdense plasmas using x-ray laser refractometry (invited)

We developed a 19.6 nm laser x-ray laser grid-image refractometer (XRL-GIR) to diagnose laser-hole boring into overdense plasmas. The XRL-GIR was optimized to measure two-dimensional electron density perturbation on a scale of a few tens of μm in underdense plasmas. Electron density profiles of laser-produced plasmas were obtained for 1020 - 1022cm-3 with the XRL-GIR and for 1019 - 1020cm-3 from an ultraviolet interferometer, the profiles of which were compared with those from hydrodynamic simulation. By using this XRL-GIR, we directly observed laser channeling into overdense plasmas accompanied by a bow shock wave showing a Mach cone ascribed to supersonic propagation of the channel front. copyright 1999 American Institute of Physics