Very low electron temperature in warm dense matter formed by focused picosecond soft x-ray laser pulses

We investigated the optical emission from the ablating surfaces induced by the irradiations of soft x-ray laser (SXRL) pulses with the aim of estimation of the maximum electron temperature. No emission signal in the spectral range of 400-800 nm could be observed despite the formation of damage structures on the target surfaces. Hence, we estimated an upper limit for the electron temperature of 0.4-0.7 eV for the process duration of 100-1000 ps. Our results imply that the ablation and/or surface modification by the SXRL is not accompanied by plasma formation but is induced by thermo-mechanical pressure, which is so called a spallative ablation. This spallative ablation process occurs in the low electron temperature region of a non-equilibrium state of warm dense matter. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.