XUV radiation transfer through high-Z metal foil in a laser-produced plasma

An Al or Au foil has been irradiated by a 1.05-μm, 100- psec laser pulse at the intensity of 3 x 1014 W/cm2. A spatially resolved spectrum of XUV radiation from a rear-side plasma has been observed in the wavelength range from 10 to 100 A. The spectral intensity for the Al foil decays exponentially with the foil thickness and diminishes at 3 μm. That for the Au foil also decays exponentially up to 1 μm but remains almost constant from 1 to 6 μm. This result for the Au foil indicates that radiation heat conduction plays an important role in the energy transport through high-Z plasmas. (author)