Recent progress in high-energy, high-resolution x-ray imaging techniques for application to the National Ignition Facility (invited)

Multi-keV x-ray microscopy will be an important laser-produced plasma diagnostic at future megajoule facilities such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF). However, laser energies and plasma characteristics imply that x-ray microscopy will be more challenging at NIF than at existing facilities. In earlier work, we concluded that target-mounted pinholes and single spherical or toroidal crystals are good options for many x-ray microscopy applications at NIF. In this article, we review the experimental progress we have made investigating these systems on the Nova and Petawatt Laser Facilities. In particular, we have performed high-resolution, high-magnification target-mounted pinhole imaging of Nova implosions, and we have obtained promising preliminary spherical-crystal data from high-intensity Petawatt experiments. We are also designing a high-energy spherical-crystal imager for use on Nova experiments. copyright 1999 American Institute of Physics