INTERACTION OF LASER RADIATION WITH MATTER. LASER PLASMA: X-ray emission spectra of the plasma produced by an ultrashort laser pulse in cluster targets

The first observation of x-ray emission spectra of multiply charged ions in the plasma produced by a 35-fs laser pulse with an intensity up to 1017 W cm-2 in CO2 and Kr gas jet targets is reported. The emission in the wavelength ranges of the 1snp—1s2(n=3–6) transitions of O VII ions and the Lyα line of O VIII ions, as well as of the (2s1/22p63p3/2)1—2s22p6 1S0 and (2s1/22p63p1/2)1—2s22p6 1S0 lines of Ne-like KrXXVII ions testifies that the highly ionised plasma is formed by collision processes in clusters. Modelling the shape of the spectral lines of oxygen ions by including the principal mechanisms of broadening and absorption in optically dense plasmas reveals that the main contribution to the time-integrated intensity is made by the plasma with the parameters Ne=(2–20)×1020 cm-3 and Te=100 — 115 eV.