Ablative Capillary Discharges as Possible XUV Laser Sources

A fast-rise-time capillary discharge was designed and investigated as a possible source of amplified spontaneous emission in the extreme ultraviolet spectral range. The capillaries were made of Li₂CO₃ or SiO₂ to investigate Li III (2←3) 72.9 nm (H-like recombination scheme), O VI (3d←4f) 52 nm (Li-like recombination scheme) and Si V (2p⁵3s J=1 ←2p⁵3p J=0) 87.4nm (Ne-like collisional excitation scheme). To further optimize the discharge parameters two novel discharge devices are introduced, featuring a dual capillary and a prepulse design.