Abstract

We demonstrate the generation of a highly polarized soft-x-ray beam with a compact high-repetition-rate tabletop soft-x-ray laser. The radiation emitted by a high-average-power discharge-pumped tabletop Ne-like Ar soft-x-ray laser operating at 46.9 nm was polarized with a pair of Si/Sc multilayer mirrors designed for 45° operation. A degree of polarization greater than 0.96 was obtained. The polarized beam was used to characterize the efficiency of a diffraction grating. Intense polarized soft-x-ray radiation generated by compact tabletop sources has the potential to affect numerous other applications.

© 2001 Optical Society of America

Focusing of a tabletop soft-x-ray laser beam and laser ablation

B. R. Benware, A. Ozols, J. J. Rocca, I. A. Artioukov, V. V. Kondratenko, and A. V. Vinogradov
Opt. Lett. 24(23) 1714-1716 (1999)

Characterization of diffraction gratings by use of a tabletop soft-x-ray laser

Max Seminario, Jorge J. Rocca, Ricardo A. Depine, Benny Bach, and Bernie Bach
Appl. Opt. 40(30) 5539-5544 (2001)

Generation of millijoule-level soft-x-ray laser pulses at a 4-Hz repetition rate in a highly saturated tabletop capillary discharge amplifier

C. D. Macchietto, B. R. Benware, and J. J. Rocca
Opt. Lett. 24(16) 1115-1117 (1999)

Soft-x-ray laser interferometry of a plasma with a tabletop laser and a Lloyd's mirror

J. J. Rocca, C. H. Moreno, M. C. Marconi, and K. Kanizay
Opt. Lett. 24(6) 420-422 (1999)

Application of a plasma waveguide to soft-x-ray lasers

H. M. Milchberg, C. G. Durfee, and J. Lynch
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 12(4) 731-737 (1995)