Ultrashort laser platforms equipped with in situ, in-operando diagnostics are pivotal for advancing the frontiers of modern laser-based engineering. Aligned with this objective, we developed the LP3-ASUR platform, which combines moderate (∼1013 W/cm2) and high-intensity laser beamlines (∼1017–2.5 × 1019 W/cm2), enabling pump–probe arrangements with modular (optical/x-ray) time-resolved diagnostics. We demonstrate high-repetition rate (100 Hz), high-brilliance, hard Kα x-ray sources induced by laser-plasma interaction. Favorably, they can be synchronized with optical pump and probe laser pulses and are jitter-free with respect to them thanks to the multi-beamline, low- and high-peak power architecture of the laser platform. For x-ray analysis and imaging, these characteristics enable a high signal-to-noise ratio and minimize the need for long accumulation times, allowing for addressing demanding scientific cases. Building such a platform encompassed efforts of research and development involving the laser system, the x-ray conversion targetry, and the formatting of x-ray source characteristics under various operation conditions. To have robust and stable x-ray tools with pulsed, well-defined characteristics, the x-ray targetry is operated in front-face geometry with a massive laser–x-ray converter material. In such a configuration, a hard Kα x-ray source delivering peak performances of 109 photons/sr/shot at the repetition-rate of 100 Hz with a few-hundred femtosecond duration is routinely obtained and implemented in flexible pump–probe analytical experiments and x-ray imaging protocols operated in air. Finally, two descriptive measurements highlight the platform’s ability to perform cutting-edge diagnostics, opening the door for innovative imaging and improved understanding of electron and lattice dynamics in solid materials exposed to external laser irradiation.
Utéza et al. (Thu,) studied this question.