Kα spectroscopy as temperature diagnostic of dense KALIF plasmas

The Karlsruhe Light Ion Facility (“KALIF”) enables us to heat material by proton impact. For solid targets in the proton focus we reach a specific energy deposition between 1 and 10 MJ/g resulting in a hot and dense plasma. To study the plasma development we exploit the satellite structure of the Kα soft X-rays emitted or absorbed by the plasma produced by subrange targets. The experimental results are compared with corresponding calculations. Time-integrated Kα emission spectra have been observed for Al and Si. They show that the peak kT in the target plasma can be above 20 eV. The spectra also give some clue as to the beam intensity of each individual KALIF shot. For Kα absorption spectroscopy a Nd : YAG laser system was installed. It is used to provide soft X-ray backlighter radiation from a laser induced plasma. Different elements were studied as laser targets to cover the Kα absorption features of the elements around Al. We found the M transition group of the rare earth elements useful with respect to the wavelengths needed.