RESUMEN
A laser self-focused channel formation into overdense plasmas was observed using a soft x-ray laser probe system with a grid image refractometry (GIR) technique. 1.053 &mgr;m laser light with a 100 ps pulse duration was focused onto a preformed plasma at an intensity of 2x10(17) W/cm (2). Cross sections of the channel were obtained which show a 30 &mgr;m diameter in overdense plasmas. The channel width in the overdense region was kept narrow as a result of self-focusing. Conically diverging density ridges were also observed along the channel, indicating a Mach cone created by a shock wave due to the supersonic propagation of the channel front.
RESUMEN
X-ray lasers (XRLs) have experimental average gains that are significantly less than calculated values and a persistently low level of spatial coherence. An XRL has been used both as an injected signal to a short XRL amplifier and as an interferometer beam to measure two-dimensional local gain and density profiles of the XRL plasma with a resolution near 1 micrometer. The measured local gain is in agreement with atomic models but is unexpectedly spatially inhomogeneous. This inhomogeneity is responsible for the low level of spatial coherence observed and helps explain the disparity between observed and simulated gains.
