ABSTRACT
Abstract: We demonstrated high gain TCE x-ray lasers for Ne-like Ar and Ni-like Xe, using picosecond-laser-irradiated gas-puff targets. The elongated X-ray laser plasma column was produced by irradiating the gas puff target with line-focused double picosecond laser pulses in a travelling-wave excitation scheme. Strong soft x-ray lasing on 3p 'So - 3s 'Pi transition for Ne-like Ar at 46.9 nm was observed with ~9 J total energy. A high gain of 18.7 cm"1 and a narrow beam divergence of less than 3.7 mrad were measured on the laser transition for targets up to 0.45 cm long. By irradiation of a xenon gas puff target with double 3 ps driving laser pulses, strong Ni-like Xe ion lasing line at a shorter wavelength of 9.98nm was clearly observed with a high gain coefficient of 17.4 cm"1, and a weak lasing line at 9.64 nm was also observed with a gain coefficient of 5.9 cm"1.
