Soft X-ray laser observation of femtosecond-laser-driven ablation of tungsten

Nishikino, Masaharu; Hasegawa, Noboru; Ishino, Masahiko; Ochi, Yoshihiro; Kawachi, Tetsuya; Yamagiwa, Mitsuru; Kato, Yoshiaki* 

Ablation dynamics of tungsten irradiated with a 70-fs laser pulse is investigated with X-ray interferometry and X-ray imaging using 13.9 nm soft X-ray laser of 7 ps pulse duration. The evolution of high density ablation front of tungsten is presented. The ablation front expands to around 120 nm above the original target surface at 160 ps after fs-laser irradiation with the expansion speed of approximately 750 m/s. These results will provide important data for understanding ablation properties of W, which is a candidate material of the first wall of magnetic confinement fusion reactors.