Soft x-ray power diagnostic improvements at the Omega Laser Facility

Soft x-ray power diagnostics are essential for evaluating high temperature laser plasma experiments. The Dante soft x-ray spectrometer, a core diagnostic for radiation flux and temperature measurements of Hohlraums, installed on the Omega Laser Facility at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics has recently undergone a series of upgrades. Work performed at Brookhaven National Laboratory for the development of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) Dante spectrometer enables the Omega Dante to offer a total of 18 absolutely calibrated channels in the energy range from 50 eV to 20 keV. This feature provides Dante with the capability to measure higher, NIF relevant, radiation temperatures with increased accuracy including a differentiation of higher energy radiation such as the Au M and L bands. Diagnostic monitoring using experimental data from directly driven Au spherical shots is discussed. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.