Spectral line decomposition and frequency shifts in Al Heα group emission from laser-produced plasma

Precise spectroscopic observations of K-shell emission from highly stripped Al ions immersed in dense, constrained-flow laser-produced plasma is reported. By using a vertical dispersion Johann spectrometer, the time-integrated spectra of the Al Heα group were measured with a high spectral and spatial resolution. The complex spectral profiles modified by the satellite formation, line broadening and frequency shifts were decomposed into individual pseudo-Voigt components by using a code GASPED based on a problem-dependent genetic algorithm. The method uses eight operators tailored to the problem of spectral decomposition and variable-size genomes to fit the data with a varying number of spectral lines. The spectra fitting was based on anticipatory theoretical knowledge of the satellite structure simulated by the multilevel collisional-radiative code MARIA and on an assumption of the aggregate plasma-induced shift of the parent lines and their satellites. The analysis of the spectral profiles revealed systematic red shifts of the resonance and the intercombination lines. Their magnitude is commensurate with predictions of the atomic data and spectral line shape codes combined with the 1D hydrodynamic modeling of the plasma conditions and independent electron density measurements. The results obtained corroborate the feasibility of an accurate decomposition of the spectral profiles encompassing optically thick and thin lines overlapped by a strong satellite emission.