A Capillary Discharge as a Potential X-Ray Laser Driver

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Peterson, B. G. | Ivanova, E. P. | Spencer, R. L. | Hart, G. W. | Lin, J. | Stark, T. T. | Panin, A. M. | Knight, L. V.

Affiliations: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602

Abstract: This paper describes a combined theoretical and experimental approach to understanding the capillary spark discharge with specific application to use as a soft x-ray or extreme ultraviolet laser source. Atomic physics calculations have identified several potential laser lines in a collisionally pumped neon-like or nickel-like plasma, and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modeling has shown that a capillary discharge device should be capable of producing the correct plasma conditions to achieve a population inversion in some of these lines. An experiment is constructed to evaluate the accuracy of the MHD model and investigate the potential of observing inversion in a neon-like argon or a nickel-like krypton plasma.

DOI: 10.3233/XST-1995-5104

Journal: Journal of X-Ray Science and Technology, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 43-51, 1995