STIGMATIC SPECTROGRAPH WITH A 2-D CCD DETECTOR FOR SOFT-X-RAY OBSERVATIONS OF LASER-PRODUCED PLASMAS

Stigmatic spectroscopic observations of laser produced plasma have been performed in the 50-200 A spectral interval. The purpose was to demonstrate the good instrumental performances of an intensified bidimensional detector installed on a stigmatic soft x-ray spectrometer. The latter is the combination of a grating spectrograph in Rowland circle mount and a toroidal mirror, both working at grazing incidence. The detector is composed of a scintillator on the spectrograph focal circle, an image intensifier, and a charge coupled device. The resulting spatial and spectral resolution are of 60 mum and 1000, respectively. The observations show a marked improvement in term of dynamic range, sensitivity, ease of operation, and real-time data presentation in comparison to both traditional photographic film and photodiode array detection technique.