Studies of energy transport in planar laser targets by energy and spectral-temporal analysis of plasma X-ray emission

The integrated X-ray diagnostic instrumentation and a radiative-gas-dynamics numerical code for laser plasma soft X-ray radiation analysis and investigation of energy transport mechanisms in targets, irradiated by intense laser pulses, are described. Experimental results of irradiation of limited diameter and variable thickness planar copper targets are presented and discussed. 8 refs., 3 figs.