X-ray emission from plasma produced by a Nd:YAG/glass laser on a Cu target: a preliminary analysis

In this article, we present a preliminary study of the soft X-ray emission by a Cu plasma, obtained by focalizing a Nd:YAG/glass laser beam on a copper target at λ=532 nm (second harmonic) at a laser intensity I≈ 1012 W/cm2. The pulse duration is t L=6 ns and the laser shot energy E L ranges from 200 to 300 mJ. We have measured the average X-ray spectral emission and determined the X-ray conversion efficiency, η (% 2π sr) in the aluminum transmission window at 70 eV with a harder X-ray tail at about 700 eV. A study of angular distribution of X-ray intensity emitted from the plasma is presented too.