Phase-coherent injection-seeded soft X-ray lasers at wawelengths down to 13.2 nm

The demonstration of soft x-ray lasers (SXLs) with full spatial and temporal coherence operating at wavelengths below 20 nm and 13-nm for extreme ultraviolet lithography, was reported. The gain-saturated lasers pulses were obtained in dense laser-created plasmas by amplifying high-harmonic seed pulses in the 18.9-nm, 13.9-nm, and 13.2-nm lines of nickel-like Mo, Ag, and Cd ions. The method also involved the injection of high harmonics (HH) pulse into SXL plasma amplifiers pumped by intense optical laser pulses. It was observed that this method can be used to improve the temporal coherence of free-electron lasers and ability to generate bright phase coherent lasers beams of shorter wavelengths. The compact SXL opened new opportunities for research in high resolution coherent imaging and phase-coherent probing of atomic and molecular systems.