Spectral irradiance of singly and doubly ionized zinc in low-intensity laser-plasma ultraviolet light sources

The absolute spectral irradiances of laser-plasmas produced from planar zinc targets are determined over a wavelength region of 150 to 250 nm. Strong spectral radiation is generated using 60 ns full-width-at-half-maximum, 1.0 μm wavelength laser pulses with incident laser intensities as low as ∼5 × 108 W cm−2. A typical radiation conversion efficiency of ∼2%/2πsr is measured. Numerical calculations using a comprehensive radiation-hydrodynamics model reveal the strong experimental spectra to originate mainly from 3d94s4p-3d94s2, 3d94s4d-3d94s4p, and 3d94p-3d94s, 3d94d-3d94p unresolved-transition arrays in singly and doubly ionized zinc, respectively.