A high-energy resolution x-ray spectrometer with interchangeable detectors (HEX-ID) for short-pulse laser-plasma experiments.

Summary form only given. The Henway spectrometer was developed by Koppel and Eckels at Lawrence Livemore National Laboratory, and this was followed by the later development of the HENEX spectrometer for studies of laser-plasma interactions at OMEGA (Laboratory for Laser Energetics) and the National Ignition Facility. The design of these previous x-ray spectrometers has been analysed in order to produce a four-channel high-energy x-ray spectrometer (HEX-ID) with superior resolution. The shielding has been adapted for use on short-pulse laser-plasma experiments. HEX-ID is intended for: verification of backlighter materials; identification of plasma ion species and their charged states; and measurement of plasma opacity and absolute conversion efficiency of characteristic x-ray line emissions. The spectrometer will be fielded at the new Orion laser facility at AWE (UK) and on OMEGA. The minimum theoretical resolving power E/δE of HEX-ID (~ 640) has been improved upon that of HENEX (~ 500). The enhancement in resolving power has been achieved by reducing the crystal radius-of-curvature and allowing up to 30 mm variation in the crystal-to-detector distance, which can be adjusted manually before TIM-based deployment. A convex reflection crystal in each of the four channels provides a total spectral range of 1-10 keV in overlapping bands. In order to achieve a desired spatial and temporal resolution, adapt the spectrometer dynamic range to long-pulse and short-pulse laser shots, as well as for cross-channel comparison of the energy dispersion and spectral range, HEX-ID can utilize a number of detectors including image plate and CCD.