X-ray lasing - The diagnostics

High-sensitivity time-resolving x-ray spectrometers were developed for the Novette x-ray laser experiments to distinguish and characterize those x-rays produced by laser activity amidst all the other background radiation. In the microchannel-plate grazing-incidence spectrometer (MCPIGS) x-rays are dispersed according to wavelength by a concave grating into a curved microchannel plate, and the amplified image is mapped flat for photographic recording. Target radiation is detected between 12.5 and 27 nm with 250 ps temporal resolution, high spectral resolution (lambda/Delta lambda = 1800), and a line-radiation detection threshold of 6 x 10 to the -7th J/sr. The transmission-grating streak spectrometer (TGSS) produces an image of the x-ray laser output (with an ellipsoidal mirror) that is separated horizontally into its constituent wavelengths (with a transmission grating) and resolved vertically in time (with a streak caemra). The TGSS has a time resolution of about 40 ps, a spectral resolution of about 0.1 nm, and a collection solid angle of about 1.2 x 10 to the -4th sr