Table Top Soft X-Ray Laser

在过去六年中，软X射线激光器的发展取得了进展。在它们的性能(波长范围和增益)方面取得了进步，同时简化了产生增益所需的技术。软X射线激光在软X射线显微镜和显微全息术中的首次应用，在一定程度上刺激了这些成就。软X射线激光技术将对科学和工业中的这些和其他领域产生的影响，关键取决于这些激光器的成本。幸运的是，在相对较低能量的河激光产生的等离子体中已经证明了显著的软X射线增益；然而，到目前为止，在这些系统中实现的最大增益长度乘积还没有达到预期的水平。PI建议使用新的诊断方法识别实现高增益的关键因素，以前所未有的灵敏度检测增益，并提供由新目标配置产生的等离子体的高分辨率软X射线图像。在第二阶段的工作中，将识别和控制对在扩展等离子体中实现高增益长度至关重要的等离子体均匀性和折射等因素，以便产生适合应用的高强度输出。在第三年，将安装软X射线反射镜，以实现激光腔。除了提高我们对物理问题的理解外，这项研究还旨在生产一种成本适中的台式软X射线激光器，适用于亚光学分辨率光刻检测和各种其他科学和工业应用。

Progress has been made in the last six years in the development of soft x-ray lasers. Advances in their performance (wavelength range and gain) have been achieved together with simplifications of the technology required to generate gain. These achievements have, in part, been stimulated by the first applications of soft x-ray lasers to soft x-ray microscopy and micro-holography. The impact soft x-ray laster technology will have on these and other fields in science and industry is critically dependent on the cost of these lasers. Fortunately, significant soft x-ray gain has been demonstrated in plasmas generated by relatively low energy river lasers; however,to date the maximum gain-length product achieved in these systems has been less than desired. The PI proposes to identify the factors crucial to achieving high gain using novel diagnostics to detect gain with unprecedented sensitivity and provide a high resolution soft x-ray image of plasmas produced by new target configurations. In the second phase of the work, factors such as plasma uniformity and refraction critical to the achievement of high gain-length in extended plasmas will be identified and controlled in order to produce a high intensity output suitable for applications. In the third year soft x-ray mirrors will be installed to implement a laser cavity. In addition to advancing our understanding of the physics issues, this research is aimed at producing a moderate cost table-top soft x-ray laser suitable for sub-optical resolution lithographic inspection and a variety of other applications in science and industry.