Probing of laser-irradiated solid targets using extreme ultraviolet radiation

The potential for coherent extreme ultra-violet (EUV) light in probing laser-produced plasmas is investigated. New results are presented to demonstrate that EUV radiation can be employed to measure heat penetration into solid targets from electrons using the signature of a change of opacity due to heating. We examine, in particular, the effects of hot electron heating of targets. In addition, phase variations after transmission through a laser-irradiated target change the subsequent propagation of the radiation, suggesting a simple diagnostic measuring the far-field footprint of coherent EUV radiation can be a useful measurement of the uniformity of target heating.