High-average-power, 100-Hz-repetition-rate, tabletop soft-x-ray lasers at sub-15-nm wavelengths

Efficient excitation of dense plasma columns at 100-Hz repetition rate using a tailored pump pulse profile produced a tabletop soft-x-ray laser average power of 0.1 mW at λ = 13.9 nm and 20 μW at λ = 11.9 nm from transitions of Ni-like Ag and Ni-like Sn, respectively. Lasing on several other transitions with wavelengths between 10.9 and 14.7 nm was also obtained using 0.9-J pump pulses of 5-ps duration from a compact diode-pumped chirped pulse amplification Yb:YAG laser. Hydrodynamic and atomic plasma simulations show that the pump pulse profile, consisting of a nanosecond ramp followed by two peaks of picosecond duration, creates a plasma with an increased density of Ni-like ions at the time of peak temperature that results in a larger gain coefficient over a temporally and spatially enlarged space leading to a threefold increase in the soft-x-ray laser output pulse energy. The high average power of these compact soft-x-ray lasers will enable applications requiring high photon flux. These results open the path to milliwatt-average-power tabletop soft-x-ray lasers.