Abstract
We discuss new results of the demonstration of 100 Hz table-top soft x-ray lasers operating at wavelengths from 10.9 nm to 18.9 nm and report the highest soft x-ray laser average power to date at sub-20 nm wavelength. The results include the generation of average powers up to 0.2 mW at λ = 18.9 nm, 0.1 mW at λ = 13.9 nm, and 20 μW at λ = 11.9 nm. These lasers are driven by a compact chirped pulse amplification laser system featuring diode-pumped, cryogenically-cooled Yb:YAG power amplifiers that produces 1 J pulses of 5 ps FWHM duration at 100 Hz repetition rate. The driver laser pulse shape was tailored to more efficiently pump soft x-ray plasma amplifiers operating at sub-15 nm wavelengths leading to a threefold increase in the λ = 13.9 nm laser pulse energy and lasing down to 10.9 nm. The pump pulse profile consisting of a nanosecond ramp followed by two closely spaced peaks of picosecond duration, is shown to create a plasma with an increased density of Ni-like lasing ions at the time of peak temperature, resulting in a larger gain coefficient over a temporally and spatially enlarged space. The development of rotating solid targets with high shot capacity has allowed the uninterrupted operation of the λ = 18.9 nm soft x-ray laser for hundreds of thousands of consecutive shots making it suitable for applications in nanoscience and nanotechnology that require high photon flux at short wavelengths. As a proof-of-principle demonstration of the utility of this laser in such applications we have lithographically printed an array of nanometer-scale features through coherent Talbot self imaging. These results open the path to milliwatt average power table-top soft x-ray lasers.
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Acknowledgements
The work supported AMOS program of the Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy and was conducted using equipment funded by NSF MRI grant 0521649 and the NSF Center for Extreme ultraviolet Science and Technology.
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Reagan, B. et al. (2016). Advances in High Average Power, 100 Hz Repetition Rate Table-Top Soft X-Ray Lasers. In: Rocca, J., Menoni, C., Marconi, M. (eds) X-Ray Lasers 2014. Springer Proceedings in Physics, vol 169. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19521-6_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19521-6_2
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