Obtaining absolute spatial flux measurements with a time-resolved pinhole camera

A technique is described to determine the spatial x-ray flux emitted from a hohlraum wall and subsequently transmitted through a diagnostic hole. This technique uses x-ray diodes, bolometers, and a time-resolved pinhole camera to determine the spatial flux of x rays emitted through a hohlraum's diagnostic hole. The primary motivation for this analysis was the relatively long duration, nearly 100 ns, of the x-ray drive present in z-pinch driven hohlraums. This radiation causes plasma to ablate from the hohlraum walls surrounding the diagnostic hole and results in a partial obscuration that reduces the effective area over which diagnostics view the radiation. The effective change in area leads to an underestimation of the wall temperature when nonimaging diagnostics such as x-ray diodes and bolometers are used to determine power and later to infer a wall temperature. An analysis similar to the one described below is then necessary to understand the radiation environment present in x-ray driven hohlraums when these diagnostics are used and hole closure is important. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0034-6748(99)00204-X].