Time- and space-resolved elliptical crystal spectrometers for high energy density physics research

X-ray spectrometers used in high energy density plasma experiments must provide high time, space, and spectral resolution while overcoming the difficulties imposed by x-ray background, debris, and mechanical shocks. At the Z facility these problems are addressed using a suite of elliptical crystal spectrometers. The elliptical geometry isolates the detector from the line of sight with a slit placed at the elliptical focus, while the sensitivity enables locating the crystal 2–4 m from the plasma source. Space and time resolution are obtained by using an array of slits to project one dimensional plasma images onto the crystal and recording the spectrally dispersed images with a gated microchannel plate detector.