DOUBLE-PULSE IRRADIATION OF X-RAY LASER TARGETS

The effects of double pulse irradiation upon the performance of the Ne-like collisional excitation X-ray laser are investigated through the use of a 3d raytracing code used as a post-processor to the coupled hydrodynamics-atomic physics code EHYBD3. The driving laser pulses are separated by 300 ps peak to peak, delivering a total energy of 165 --> 285 J to a 3 cm long, 100 mum wide germanium slab target. Calculated output characteristics for both the J = 0 --> 1, 196 angstrom and J = 2 --> 1, 236 angstrom lines are presented. The effects of curvature along the target length are also considered.