ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the laser-specific problem of laser light to x-ray conversion. Physical insight into this difficult problem can be obtained by considering limiting cases for which scaling laws can be obtained by dimensional analysis. The chapter examines the conversion efficiency of laser light into soft x-rays as a function of parameters like laser wavelength, intensity, time, and type of material. The energy balance of a fluid element of the conversion layer is in principle determined by several physical processes. Besides the work done during expansion, these are laser light absorption, electron heat conduction and the energy loss by radiation. The intense soft x-rays from a laser-heated source make it possible to generate and to investigate conditions of high temperature and density in matter in a range previously inaccessible in the laboratory. Radiative transfer between the walls of a laser-heated cavity determines the spatial temperature distribution inside the cavity and the uniformity with which an object can be irradiated.
