Imaging x-ray spectrometer for laser fusion applications

A gold transmission grating has been coupled to a high-resolution Wolter-design grazing-incidence reflection x-ray microscope to produce an imaging x-ray spectrometer of unprecedented spatial resolution, spectral range, and collection solid angle. In a series of test experiments conducted at 1.75-2 keV, the instrument demonstrated a spectral resolving power, lambda/Deltalambda, of 200 and a 1-D spatial resolution of 1 microm. The spectrometer's large collection solid angle, approximately 2 x 10(-5) sr, and broad spectral range, from the near UV to 3.2 keV, make it a very versatile instrument for laser-fusion applications.