Abstract

The spatial coherence of a nanosecond pulsed germanium collisionally excited x-ray laser is measured experimentally for three target configurations. The diagnostic is based on Young’s slit interference fringes with a dispersing element to resolve the 23.2- and 23.6-nm spectral lines. Target configurations include a double-slab target, known as the injector, and geometries in which the injector image is image relayed to seed either an additional single-slab target or a second double-slab target. A special feature of this study is the observation of the change in the apparent source size with angle of refraction across the diverging laser beam. Source sizes derived with a Gaussian source model decrease from 44 μm for the injector target by a variable factor of as much as 2, according to target configuration, for beams leaving the additional amplifiers after strong refraction in the plasma.

© 1998 Optical Society of America

Time dependence of the spatial coherence of the 23.6- and 23.2-nm radiation from the germanium soft-x-ray laser

R. E. Burge, G. E. Slark, M. T. Browne, X.-C. Yuan, P. Charalambous, Z. An, X.-H. Cheng, C. L. S. Lewis, A. G. MacPhee, and D. Neely
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 15(5) 1620-1626 (1998)

Spatial coherence of x-ray laser emission from neonlike germanium after prepulse

R. E. Burge, G. E. Slark, M. T. Browne, X.-C. Yuan, P. Charalambous, X.-H. Cheng, C. L. S. Lewis, A. MacPhee, and D. Neely
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 14(10) 2742-2751 (1997)

Observation of high transient gain in the germanium x-ray laser at 19.6 nm

P. J. Warwick, C. L. S. Lewis, M. P. Kalachnikov, P. V. Nickles, M. Schnürer, A. Behjat, A. Demir, G. J. Tallents, D. Neely, E. Wolfrum, J. Zhang, and G. J. Pert
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 15(6) 1808-1814 (1998)

Lasing properties of the J = 0–1 and the J = 2–1 lines of a neonlike germanium soft-x-ray laser

K. Murai, H. Shiraga, G. Yuan, H. Daido, H. Azuma, E. Miura, R. Kodama, M. Takagi, T. Kanabe, H. Takabe, Y. Kato, D. Neely, D. M. O’Neill, C. L. S. Lewis, and A. Djaoui
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 11(11) 2287-2297 (1994)

Generalized matrix-optics description of soft-x-ray lasers

Jun Yang, Dianyuan Fan, Shiji Wang, and Yuan Gu
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 16(6) 1016-1024 (1999)