First Feasibility Shots For Radiography Experiments at LIL Facility

The Laser Integration Line (LIL), based at CESTA (The Aquitaine Research Center of the French Atomic and Alternative Energies), has been designed as a prototype to validate the concepts and the laser architecture of the Laser Mega Joule (LMJ). The LIL facility is a 4-beams laser representing a quad structure of the LMJ. The LIL facility launched in November 2009 its first campaign of side radiography feasibility (2 shots). The experiment was aimed at focusing 3 beams onto an aluminum target whose back-side induced plasma was X-rayed by an X source positioned at 10 mm and radiated by the 4$^{th}$ beam of the chain. The facility proved to be capable of shifting one beam regardless of the 3 others. During the 2$^{nd}$ shot, the shifted beam was desynchronized by 500 ps. Plasma observation was performed using an analyzer coupled to a streak camera with 200 $\mu $m aperture slot (40 $\mu $m on target) and a 10 ns time aperture. The LIL facility hence proved to be able to perform side X-ray shots and image plasma expansion using a streak camera on CCD or film.