Soft X-ray spectra of Cerium laser-produced plasmas

Spectra of laser-produced plasmas of cerium have been recorded in the 1.5 to 15.5 nm spectral region. The plasmas were formed using the frequency doubled pulsed output of a neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) laser at 532 nm. At the power densities incident on-target, ranging from 8.6×109- 2.1×1013W cm-2, Ce4+ to Ce27+ ions gave rise to emission from ∆n = 0, 1 transitions to final states where n = 4. The spectra are dominated by an intense unresolved transition array (UTA) in the 8-10 nm region arising from n = 4 to n = 4 transitions. Two distinct components of this UTA are observed whose appearance is strongly dependent on laser power density, corresponding to transitions involving ions with open 4d and open 4f subshells, the latter at longer wavelengths. Multiple other transition arrays are identified and UTA statistics are given. The analysis was aided by atomic structure calculations and the use of a steady state collisional-radiative (CR) model.

Stark Width Data for Tb II, Tb III and Tb IV Spectral Lines

A dataset of Stark widths for Tb II, Tb III and Tb IV is presented. To data obtained before, the results of new calculations for 62 Tb III lines from 5d to 6pj(6,j)o, a transition array, have been added. Calculations have been performed by using the simplified modified semiempirical method for temperatures from 5000 to 80,000 K for an electron density of 1017 cm−3. The results were also used to discuss the regularities within multiplets and a supermultiplet.

Super Transition Arrays: A Tool for Studying Spectral Properties of Hot Plasmas

For the theoretical study of X and extreme-UV spectra of ions in plasmas, quantum mechanics brings more detailed results than statistical physics. However, it is impossible to handle individually the billions of levels that must be taken into account in order to properly describe hot plasmas. Such levels can be gathered into electronic configurations or superconfigurations (groups of configurations) and the corresponding calculations rely on appropriate statistical methods, for local or non-local thermodynamic equilibrium plasmas. In this article we present the basic principles of the Super-Transition-Array approach as well as its practical implementation. During the last decades, calculations performed with the SCO code (Superconfiguration Code for Opacity) have been compared to opacity measurements. The code includes static screening of ions by plasma and is well suited for studying plasma density effects (for example pressure ionization) on opacity and equation of state. The recently developed SCO-RCG code (Superconfiguration Code for Opacity combined with Robert Cowan’s “G” subroutine) combines statistical methods from SCO and fine-structure (detailed-level-accounting) calculations using subroutine RCG from Cowan’s code. SCO-RCG enables us to obtain very detailed spectra and to significantly improve the interpretation of experimental spectra. The Super-Transition-Array formalism is still the cornerstone of several opacity codes, and new ideas are emerging, such as the Configurationally Resolved-Super-Transition-Array approach or the extension of the Partially Resolved-Transition-Array concept to the superconfiguration method.

An Investigation of Laser Produced Lead-Tin Alloy Plasmas between 10 and 18 nm

The results of a systematic study performed on Pb-Sn alloys of concentration 65–35% and 94–6% by weight along with spectra from pure Pb and Sn in the wavelength range of 9.8–18 nm are presented. The dynamics of the Nd:YAG laser produced plasma were changed by varying the focused spot size and input energy of the laser pulse; the laser irradiance at the target varied from 7.3 × 109 W cm−2 to 1.2 × 1012 W cm−2. The contributing ion stages and line emission are identified using the steady state collisional radiative model of Colombant and Tonon, and the Cowan suite of atomic structure codes. The Sn spectrum was dominated in each case by the well-known unresolved transition array (UTA) near 13.5 nm. However, a surprising result was the lack of any enhancement or narrowing of this feature at low concentrations of Sn in the alloy spectra whose emission was essentially dominated by Pb ions.