Thomson scattering from near-solid density plasmas using soft x-ray free electron lasers

Abstract

We propose a collective Thomson scattering experiment at the VUV free electron laser facility at DESY (FLASH) which aims to diagnose warm dense matter at near-solid density. The plasma region of interest marks the transition from an ideal plasma to a correlated and degenerate many-particle system and is of current interest, e.g. in ICF experiments or laboratory astrophysics. Plasma diagnostic of such plasmas is a longstanding issue. The collective electron plasma mode (plasmon) is revealed in a pump-probe scattering experiment using the high-brilliant radiation to probe the plasma. The distinctive scattering features allow to infer basic plasma properties. For plasmas in thermal equilibrium the electron density and temperature is determined from scattering off the plasmon mode.