Demonstration of high-repetition-rate tabletop soft-x-ray lasers with saturated output at wavelengths down to 13.9nm and gain down to 10.9nm

Saturated tabletop lasers operating at 5Hz repetition rate with average powers >1ÎW were demonstrated at wavelengths between 16.5 and 13.9nm in the 4dS01-4pP11 transitions of Ni-like ions. The results were obtained using picosecond laser heating pulses with an energy of only 1J by optimizing the angle of incidence for maximum energy deposition. Lasing was also observed for shorter wavelength transitions of the same isoelectronic sequence, with amplification in the 11.9nm line of Ni-like Sn approaching gain saturation, and progressively reduced gain for wavelengths as low as 10.9nm for Ni-like Te. These high repetition rate soft x-ray lasers will enable new applications in science and the development of unique metrology and processing tools for industry.