Extreme ultraviolet spectral characteristic analysis of highly charged ions in laser-produced Cu plasmas

This paper reports the results of spectral measurements and a theoretical analysis of the temporal and spatial evolution of laser-produced Cu plasma in vacuum in the range of 8–14 nm. The time dependence of the extreme ultraviolet band spectrum at different positions near the target surface was obtained and found to be dominated by three broad-band features. The 3p and 3d excitations of Cu⁵⁺–Cu⁹⁺ ions were calculated using the Hartree–Fock theory with configuration interactions. The characteristics of the spectral line distribution for the 3p–nd and 3d–nf transition arrays were analyzed. Based on the steady-state collisional radiation model and the normalized Boltzmann distribution, the complex spectral structure in the band of 13–14 nm is accurately explained through consistency comparisons and benchmarking between the experimental and theoretical simulation spectra, demonstrating that the structure mainly stems from the overlapping contribution of the 3d–4f and 3p–3d transition arrays for the Cu⁵⁺–Cu⁹⁺ ions. These results may help in studying the radiation characteristics of isoelectronic series highly-charged ions involving the 3d excitation process.