A novel technique for single-shot energy-resolved 2D x-ray imaging of plasmas relevant for the inertial confinement fusion.

A novel x-ray diagnostic of laser-fusion plasmas is described, allowing 2D monochromatic images of hot, dense plasmas to be obtained in any x-ray photon energy range, over a large domain, on a single-shot basis. The device (named energy-encoded pinhole camera) is based upon the use of an array of many pinholes coupled to a large area CCD camera operating in the single-photon mode. The available x-ray spectral domain is only limited by the quantum efficiency of scientific-grade x-ray CCD cameras, thus extending from a few keV up to a few tens of keV. Spectral 2D images of the emitting plasma can be obtained at any x-ray photon energy provided that a sufficient number of photons had been collected at the desired energy. Results from recent inertial confinement fusion related experiments will be reported in order to detail the new diagnostic.