Development of soft x-ray lasers at PALS

Bedrich Rus; Michaela Kozlova; Jiri Polan; Ansgar R. Praeg; Michal Stupka; T. Mocek

doi:10.1117/12.611203

23 March 2005 Development of soft x-ray lasers at PALS

Bedrich Rus, Michaela Kozlova, Jiri Polan, Ansgar R. Praeg, Michal Stupka, T. Mocek

Proceedings Volume 5777, XV International Symposium on Gas Flow, Chemical Lasers, and High-Power Lasers; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.611203
Event: XV International Symposium on Gas Flow, Chemical Lasers, and High-Power Lasers, 2004, Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract

Program of development of deeply saturated Ne-like zinc soft X-ray laser at the PALS (Prague Asterix Laser System) Centre, employing as a pump device a kilojoule high-power iodine laser, is reviewed. The active medium giving rise to laser action at 21.2 nm is generated using a sequence of multiple-100-ns IR pump pulses, consisting of a weak prepulse (<10J), followed after 10 or 50 ns by the main pump pulse (~500 J). The population inversion in the resulting long scale-length density plasma allows to generate an extremely bright and narrowly collimated X-ray laser beam, providing up to ~10 mJ pulses and ~100 MW of peak power, which is the most powerful soft X-ray laser yet implemented. This device was recently used as radiation source in pilot radiobiology study of DNA damage in the soft X-ray region, and in material ablation. A novel interferometric device, based on double Lloyd's mirror, is being developed for surface nanometric probing with teh soft X-ray laser as a source. A test experiment was performed to assess focusing properties of the X-ray laser beam down to a narrow spot, with the ultimate goal of achieving 10¹³ Wcm^-2 for novel applications relevant to e.g. laboratory astrophysics.

Citation Download Citation

Bedrich Rus, Michaela Kozlova, Jiri Polan, Ansgar R. Praeg, Michal Stupka, and T. Mocek "Development of soft x-ray lasers at PALS", Proc. SPIE 5777, XV International Symposium on Gas Flow, Chemical Lasers, and High-Power Lasers, (23 March 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.611203

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