Investigations on soft x-ray lasers with a picosecond-laser-irradiated gas puff target

We present results of experimental studies on transient gain soft, x-ray lasers with a picosecond-laser-irradiated gas puff target. The target in a form of an elongated gas sheet is formed by pulsed injection of gas through a slit nozzle using a high-pressure electromagnetic valve developed and characterized at the institute of Optoelectronics. The x-ray laser experiments were performed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory using the tabletop Compact Multipulse Terawatt (COMET) laser to irradiate argon, krypton or xenon gas puff targets. Soft x-ray lasing in neon-like argon on the 3p-3s transition at 46.9 nm and the 3d-3p transition at 45.1 nm have been demonstrated, however, no amplification for nickel-like krypton or xenon was observed. Results of the experiments are presented and discussed.