Soft x-ray lasers

Journal Article · Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1988 · Scientific American; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1288-86· OSTI ID:6972476

Matthews, D L; Rosen, M D

One of the elusive dreams of laser physicists has been the development of an x-ray laser. After 25 years of waiting, the x-ray laser has at last entered the scientific scene, although those now in operation are still laboratory prototypes. They produce soft x rays down to about five nanometers. X-ray lasers retain the usual characteristics of their optical counterparts: a very tight beam, spatial and temporal coherence, and extreme brightness. Present x-ray lasers are nearly 100 times brighter that the next most powerful x-ray source in the world: the electron synchrotron. Although Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is widely known for its hard-x-ray laser program which has potential applications in the Strategic Defense Initiative, the soft x-ray lasers have no direct military applications. These lasers, and the scientific tools that result from their development, may one day have a place in the design and diagnosis of both laser fusion and hard x-ray lasers. The soft x-ray lasers now in operation at the LLNL have shown great promise but are still in the primitive state. Once x-ray lasers become reliable, efficient, and economical, they will have several important applications. Chief among them might be the creation of holograms of microscopic biological structures too small to be investigated with visible light. 5 figs.

• OSTI ID: 6972476
• Journal Information: Scientific American; (USA), Vol. 259:6; ISSN 0036-8733
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
X-RAY LASERS
DESIGN
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
AMPLIFICATION
COHERENT RADIATION
COMPUTER CODES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
LASER FUSION REACTORS
LASER MIRRORS
LASER RADIATION
LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA
LAWRENCE LIVERMORE LABORATORY
MOLYBDENUM
NOVA FACILITY
POPULATION INVERSION
SELENIUM
SOFT X RADIATION
USES
YTTRIUM
CONFINEMENT
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LASERS
METALS
MIRRORS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PLASMA
PLASMA CONFINEMENT
RADIATIONS
SEMIMETALS
SIMULATION
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
X RADIATION
426002* - Engineering- Lasers & Masers- (1990-)
700208 - Fusion Power Plant Technology- Inertial Confinement Technology