Femtosecond X-ray line emission from multilayer targets irradiated by short laser pulses

The invention of high-power, ultra-short-pulse lasers has opened the way to investigations aimed at the creation of a new type of bright X-ray source for various uses including material science applications and time-resolved X-ray diffraction for biology. The efficiency with which laser energy incident on a solid target is converted into an X-ray emission depends on many factors, including the temporal profile of the laser pulse. Here we report the results of our theoretical and experimental investigations of the line X-ray emission from layered solid targets irradiated by ultra-short laser pulses. The laser prepulse parameters and target thickness are optimized to convert the maximum laser energy into an emission in the selected X-ray line. Multilayer foils are proposed to increase the energy of the K-alpha-line emission from laser plasma while simultaneously keeping the X-ray pulse duration at a hundred femtoseconds. The emission is studied both experimentally and theoretically by means of an analytical model and numerical simulations.