X-ray yield scaling studies performed on the OMEGA laser

We have performed experiments with planar targets on the OMEGA laser facility at the University of Rochester. These experiments investigated the scaling of x-ray yield and conversion efficiency with the laser energy and focusing properties for several different target materials. The experiments were also designed to investigate the feasibility of high-energy backlighters under typical irradiance geometries. The scaling of Fe emission near 6.7 keV was investigated by varying laser irradiance from 10(14) to 10(16) W/cm(2). In addition, the scaling of x-ray yield with emitted x-ray energy was studied at fixed laser irradiance near 10(16) W/cm(2) for Fe, Zn, and Ge. The time-integrated spectra as well as filtered x-ray film gave relative x-ray yields. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.