Spectral characterization of a Sn soft x-ray plasma source

The radiative emission from a soft x-ray laser-produced plasma source is examined in detail for the particular case of a Sn solid target under moderate illumination conditions: 1010–1012 W/cm2. The prominent spectral features which contribute to the relatively large conversion efficiency in the range 124–155 Å are identified using extensive multi-configuration Dirac–Fock calculations. These data are used to generate synthetic spectra with plasma characteristics derived from a two-dimensional simulation of the ablating, radiating plasma. The comparison to the experimental results is generally favorable.