High-resolution time- and two-dimensional space-resolved x-ray imaging of plasmas at NOVA

A streaked multiple pinhole camera technique, first used by P. Choi and co-workers [C. Deeney and P. Choi, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 60, 3558 (1989); P. Choi and R. Aliaga, ibid. 61, 2747 (1990)] to record time- and two-dimensional space-resolved soft x-ray images of plasma pinches, has been implemented on laser plasmas at NOVA. The instrument is particularly useful for time-resolved imaging of small sources (<150 μm in size) such as implosions for which the necessary alignment accuracy is relaxed from ≤10 μm for a single pinhole, to 200 μm for a nine-pinhole column. Results at 20 μm, 30-ps resolution are presented for ≳2.5-keV imaging, complementing the existing 1–3-keV streaked x-ray microscope capabilities at NOVA.