Experimental X-ray characterization of Gekko-XII laser propagation through very low-density aerogels (2–5 mg/cc) creating multi-keV photons from a titanium solid foil

Abstract This work describes measurements of laser propagation through very low-density aerogels and subsequent multi-keV photon production from titanium foils. For efficient foil heating, SiO 2 aerogel with densities of 2 and 5 mg/cm 3 have been cast into a plastic cylinder, which are then mounted to Ti foils that are 3–20 μm thick. Experiments have been performed on the GEKKO-XII laser facility to characterize laser propagation through the aerogel and X-ray production from the Ti foil. Multi-keV emission is diagnosed with a full set of diagnostics giving laser-to-X-ray conversion efficiencies, time-dependent X-ray power and two-dimensional X-ray imaging.