To probe the electron density distribution of the plasma,double-frequency grating shearing interferometry based on the soft X-ray laser technology is developed.The 13.9 nm Ni-like Ag soft X-ray laser is used as a probe to make attempt on the diagnosis of laser produced plasma from a planar gold wafer target.Clear interference fringes image is achieved,which fully demonstrates the practicability of this technology.However,there are some problems such as the unclear target surface in the image.Analysis indicates the main reasons of these problems and a reasonable solution is proposed to improve this technology.

针对高温稠密激光等离子体临界密度附近电子密度的诊断需求,发展了基于软X射线激光的软X射线双频光栅干涉诊断技术.利用波长13.9 nm的类镍银软X射线激光作为探针,掠入射式的双频光栅作为分光干涉元件,对激光辐照金平面靶产生的等离子体进行诊断尝试.实验获得了清晰的干涉条纹图像,充分表明该技术的实用性.但结果中存在靶面不清晰等问题,为此,提出了初步的解决方案.

It is important to diagnose electron density of a plasma irradiated by lasers for inertial confinement fusion, in high energy density physics and related fields, especially for measuring high-Z plasma near the interface. Use of soft X-ray laser as a probe is an important method in diagnosis of plasma electron density distribution. However, it is difficult to carry out the research in high-Z laser plasma, because of the problem of excessive plasma spontaneous radiation. In view of the characteristics of soft X-ray laser, several specific experimental techniques have been developed. By using these techniques, which can greatly suppress effects of spontaneous radiation, diagnosis of high-Z plasma with soft X-ray laser probe method becomes possible. As a typical example, an experiment of diagnosing gold plasma is performed and clear images are obtained, indicating that the techniques are effective and feasible.

The diagnoses of laser-produced plasma electron density have important significance for inertial confinement fusion, plasma physics, high energy density physics and other relevant fields, especially for measuring electron density distribution information of medium and high-Z material plasma near the critical density surface. With 13.9 nm Ni-like Ag X-ray laser serving as a probe, using double frequency grating shearing interference technique, the electron density distribution of plasma produced by laser irradiating a gold planar target is measured. Clear interference fringe image is obtained. Preliminary deduction of the fringe shows that the maximum density measured is about 1.4 times the critical density. It is found that there are some discrepancies between experimental results and simulation results, which provides a useful reference to the further optimization of the simulation program. The experimental results fully demonstrate that the soft X-ray double frequency grating shearing interference technique is practical to diagnose near-critical-density plasma of medium and high-Z materials, which will have a good application value.

The interferometry with an X-ray laser as probe is an important tool of diagnosing the electron density of a high temperature and dense plasma. A successful experiment of diagnosing the density of a CH plasma was demonstrated by using a Ni-like Ag X-ray laser as a probe and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer as instrument under the Shenguang II laser facility. The legible interferogram indicating the information of electron density was obtained.