Picosecond time-resolved measurements of dense plasma line shifts
Picosecond time-resolved x-ray spectroscopy is used to measure the spectral line shift of the 1s2p–1s 2 transition in He-like Al ions as a function of the instantaneous plasma conditions. The plasma temperature and density are inferred from the Al He α complex using a nonlocal-thermodynamic-equilibrium atomic physics model. The experimental spectra show a linearly increasing red shift for electron densities of 1 to 5 × 10 23 cm –3 . Furthermore, the measured line shifts are broadly consistent with a generalized analytic line-shift model based on calculations of a self-consistent field ion sphere model.