Time resolved spectroscopy of ultrashort pulse laser generated x rays using von Hámos crystal spectroscopy

A diagnostic currently being used for ultrashort pulse laser matter interactions at the Lawrence Livemore National Laboratory is presented. Two cylindrical curved crystals are used as collection optics and diffractive elements in the von Hámos geometry. The dispersed x rays are focused onto the slit of an ultrafast x-ray streak camera. The small nature of the streak camera allows the diagnostic to be positioned close to the target, maximizing the solid angle. Using the geometric layout, the spectral resolution is estimated at E/ΔE∼1000 .