Single-backlighter time-framed X-ray imaging diagnostics of laser plasma using a quasi-coaxial multi-channel Kirkpatrick-Baez microscope.

The time-resolved backlight imaging of plasma is crucial for diagnosing density-dependent plasma information. It requires a high-intensity X-ray source and efficient optics. We propose a quasi-coaxial, multi-channel Kirkpatrick-Baez (KB) structure that realizes high-brightness illumination. The angles between the observation axes of neighboring images were significantly reduced. An X-ray multilayer was optimized to enable the system to simultaneously function at two quasi-monochromatic energies to observe the plasma regions of varying densities. Eight-frame high-spatiotemporal-resolution images were obtained with an X-ray backlighter in ShenGuang-III prototype laser facility. This study reports the optical design, multilayer fabrication, and experiments of the proposed microscope.