Pump-probe XUV platform for ultrafast laser-matter interaction research

Interaction of ultrafast relativistic intensity laser pulses with matter has shown to be a promising field for the study of matter at extreme conditions, electromagnetic fields generation/amplification, high energy radiation emission and particle acceleration. For most of the aforementioned applications, advanced proposed schemes require stringent tailoring and monitoring of the target/plasma parameters during the interaction. The short (fs) temporal and small (sub-micron) spatial scales of the evolution of these parameters make direct measurements a challening task, even more considering that these plasmas are usually overdense for conventional optical diagnostics.

Currently, a pump-probe set up is being developed at HZDR to gain insight into the internal evolution of overdense laser driven plasmas. The XUV beam generated by one of the arms of the Draco laser, through Relativistic Oscillating Mirror High Harmonic Generation, will be used to probe a plasma driven by a second arm of the laser system. The initial set up for these experiments will be shown and probing options of the platform will be discussed.