OPACITY MEASUREMENTS IN A HOT DENSE MEDIUM

The first measurements of the opacity in a well characterized, hot, dense, laser-produced plasma are reported. Measurements of the absorption of x rays by 1 to 2 transitions in AlXII through AlVIII have been made in a laser heated slab plasma at the measured temperature and density of 58 +/- 4 eV and 0.020 +/- 0.007 g/cm3. The conditions in the plasma were determined to be reproducible, spatially uniform, and in nearly complete local thermodynamic equilibrium. The absorption spectra and the temperature-density data obtained provide an improved means for comparison with detailed atomic physics and opacity calculations.