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X-ray free-electron laser studies of dense plasmas

Part of: Culham Thesis Prize Winners

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2015

Sam M. Vinko
Sam M. Vinko*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK
*
†Email address for correspondence: sam.vinko@physics.ox.ac.uk
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Abstract

The high peak brightness of X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs), coupled with X-ray optics enabling the focusing of pulses down to sub-micron spot sizes, provides an attractive route to generating high energy-density systems on femtosecond time scales, via the isochoric heating of solid samples. Once created, the fundamental properties of these plasmas can be studied with unprecedented accuracy and control, providing essential experimental data needed to test and benchmark commonly used theoretical models and assumptions in the study of matter in extreme conditions, as well as to develop new predictive capabilities. Current advances in isochoric heating and spectroscopic plasma studies on X-ray FELs are reviewed and future research directions and opportunities discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 81 , Issue 5 , October 2015 , 365810501
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2015 

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