Letter abstract
Nature Photonics 2, 94 - 98 (2008)
Published online: 20 January 2008 | doi:10.1038/nphoton.2007.280
Subject Category: Lasers, LEDs and light sources
Phase-coherent, injection-seeded, table-top soft-X-ray lasers at 18.9 nm and 13.9 nm
Y. Wang1, E. Granados1, F. Pedaci1, D. Alessi1, B. Luther1, M. Berrill1 & J. J. Rocca1,2
Abstract
There is keen interest in generating intense, coherent, soft-X-ray beams for scientific and measurement applications1. Here, we report the demonstration of soft-X-ray lasers with essentially full spatial and temporal coherence operating at wavelengths below 20 nm, and in particular within the 13-nm spectral region, which is important for the manufacturing of computer chips using extreme uv lithography. Gain-saturated pulses were produced in dense laser-created plasmas by amplifying high-harmonic seed pulses in the 18.9-nm and 13.9-nm transitions of nickel-like molybdenum and silver ions, respectively. These results, obtained using an injection seeding technique that can also be applied to improve the temporal coherence of free-electron lasers, extend our ability to generate bright phase-coherent laser beams to significantly shorter wavelengths. Moreover, the experiments were conducted using a practical table-top laser2. These compact soft-X-ray lasers offer new scientific opportunities, such as high-resolution coherent imaging and phase-coherent probing of atomic and molecular systems, in small laboratory environments.
- National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Science and Technology and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA
- Department of Physics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA
Correspondence to: J. J. Rocca1,2 e-mail: rocca@engr.colostate.edu
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