Abstract

We demonstrate a novel technique for time-resolved spectroscopic studies of highly excited ions. The technique uses a laser-produced plasma as a short-pulse, soft-x-ray light source with a high repetition rate. A Nd:YAG laser with a pulse duration of 90 psec, a pulse energy of 70 μJ, and repetition rate of 10⁴ pulses per second is focused onto a rotating metal target. Soft x rays from the resulting plasma photoionize a gas surrounding the target, and fluorescence from the gas is detected by using a spectrometer and a high-speed photodetector. Using the technique of time-correlated photon counting, we determined the radiative lifetime and collisional quenching rate of the Xe iii 5s⁰5p^{6 1}S₀ state by observing its fluorescence at 108.9 nm. A time resolution of better than 400 psec was obtained. We also measured relative Auger decay yields of a core hole state in xenon using a higher-energy laser-produced plasma light source at a lower repetition rate.

© 1987 Optical Society of America

Photoionization lasers pumped by broadband soft-x-ray flux from laser-produced plasmas

W. T. Silfvast and O. R. Wood
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 4(4) 609-618 (1987)

Saturation of the Xe iii 109-nm laser using traveling-wave laser-produced-plasma excitation

M. H. Sher, J. J. Macklin, J. F. Young, and S. E. Harris
Opt. Lett. 12(11) 891-893 (1987)

Soft-x-ray amplification by lithiumlike ions in recombining hot plasmas

Pierre Jaeglé, Gérard Jamelot, Antoine Carillon, Annie Klisnick, Alain Sureau, and Hélène Guennou
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 4(4) 563-574 (1987)

Demonstration of a transient-gain nickel-like xenon-ion x-ray laser

Peixiang Lu, Tetsuya Kawachi, Maki Kishimoto, Kouta Sukegawa, Momoko Tanaka, Noboru Hasegawa, Masayuki Suzuki, Renzhong Tai, Masataka Kado, Keisuke Nagashima, Hiroyuki Daido, Yoshiaki Kato, Henryk Fiedorowicz, and Andrzej Bartnik
Opt. Lett. 27(21) 1911-1913 (2002)

Time-resolved two-photon-excited fluorescence detection of atomic hydrogen in flames

J. E. M. Goldsmith, R. J. M. Anderson, and L. R. Williams
Opt. Lett. 15(1) 78-80 (1990)