High-average-power, 100-Hz-repetition-rate, tabletop soft-x-ray lasers at sub-15-nm wavelengths

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2014 · Physical Review A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.89.053820· OSTI ID:1132363

Reagan, Brendon ^[1]; Berrill, Mark A ^[2]; Wernsing, Keith ^[1]; Baumgarten, Cory ^[1]; Woolston, Mark ^[1]; Rocca, Jorge ^[1]

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1. Colorado State University, Fort Collins
2. ORNL

Efficient excitation of dense plasma columns at 100-Hz repetition rate using a tailored pump pulse profile produced a tabletop soft-x-ray laser average power of 0.1 mW at = 13.9 nm and 20 W at = 11.9 nm from transitions of Ni-like Ag and Ni-like Sn, respectively. Lasing on several other transitions with wavelengths between 10.9 and 14.7 nm was also obtained using 0.9-J pump pulses of 5-ps duration from a compact diode-pumped chirped pulse amplification Yb:YAG laser. Hydrodynamic and atomic plasma simulations show that the pump pulse profile, consisting of a nanosecond ramp followed by two peaks of picosecond duration, creates a plasma with an increased density of Ni-like ions at the time of peak temperature that results in a larger gain coefficient over a temporally and spatially enlarged space leading to a threefold increase in the soft-x-ray laser output pulse energy. The high average power of these compact soft-x-ray lasers will enable applications requiring high photon flux. These results open the path to milliwatt-average-power tabletop soft-x-ray lasers.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
• Sponsoring Organization: ME USDOE - Office of Management, Budget, and Evaluation; ORNL work for others
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1132363
• Journal Information: Physical Review A, Journal Name: Physical Review A Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 89; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English