X-ray laser

Active media

The most often used media include highly ionized plasmas, created in a capillary discharge or when a linearly focused optical pulse hits a solid target. In accordance with the Saha ionization equation, the most stable electron configurations are neon-like with 10 electrons remaining and nickel-like with 28 electrons remaining. The electron transitions in highly ionized plasmas usually correspond to energies on the order of hundreds of electron volts (eV).

Common methods for creating plasma X-ray lasers include:

• Capillary plasma-discharge media: In this setup, a several centimeters long capillary made of resistant material (e.g., alumina) confines a high-current, submicrosecond electrical pulse in a low-pressure gas. The Lorentz force causes further compression of the plasma discharge (see pinch). In addition, a pre-ionization electric or optical pulse is often used. An example is the capillary neon-like Ar8+ laser, generating radiation at 47 nm, which was first demonstrated in 1994.
• Solid-slab target media: After being hit by an ultra-intense optical (laser) pulse, the metal target evaporates and emits highly excited plasma. Again, a pair of pulses is usually used in the so-called "transient pumping" scheme: (1) a longer pulse on the order of nanoseconds (sometimes preceded by one or several smaller "pre-pulses") is often used for plasma creation and (2) a second, shorter (on the order of hundreds of femtoseconds or a picosecond) and more energetic pulse is used for further excitation in the plasma volume. For short lifetimes a so-called "travelling wave" has been developed, where the plasma is heated just before the passage of the x-ray photons (so-called "guillotine principle" geometry). In order to increase the efficiency of energy transfer from the heating laser pulse into the active medium (plasma), a sheared excitation pulse is sometimes employed, so-called GRIP - grazing incidence pump geometry. The gradient in the refractive index of the plasma causes the amplified pulse to bend from the target surface, because at the frequencies above resonance the refractive index decreases with matter density. This can be compensated for by using curved targets or multiple targets in series.
• Plasma excited by optical field: At optical densities high enough to cause effective electron tunnelling, or even to suppress the potential barrier ( 1016 W/cm2), it is possible to highly ionize gas without contact with any capillary or target. A collinear setup is usually used, enabling the synchronization of pump and signal pulses.

An alternative amplifying medium is the relativistic electron beam in a free-electron laser, which, strictly speaking, uses stimulated Compton scattering instead of stimulated emission.

Other approaches to optically induced coherent X-ray generation are:

• high-harmonic generation
• stimulated Thomson scattering
• Betatron radiation

Applications

Applications of coherent X-ray radiation include coherent diffraction imaging, research into dense plasmas (not transparent to visible radiation), X-ray microscopy, phase-resolved medical imaging, material surface research, and weaponry.

A soft x-ray laser can perform ablative laser propulsion.

References

References

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2. (1994-10-17). "Demonstration of a Discharge Pumped Table-Top Soft-X-Ray Laser". Physical Review Letters.
3. Kuba, Jaroslav. "Experimental and Theoretical Study of X-ray Lasers Pumped by an Ultra-Short Laser Pulse: Transient Pumping of Ni-like Ag Ions". Université de Paris, France 2001.
4. (20 October 1997). "Generation of Coherent Soft X Rays at 2.7 nm Using High Harmonics". Physical Review Letters.
5. (8 June 2012). "Bright Coherent Ultrahigh Harmonics in the keV X-ray Regime from Mid-Infrared Femtosecond Lasers". Science.
6. (2015). "Ultraviolet surprise: Efficient soft x-ray high-harmonic generation in multiply ionized plasmas". [[Science (journal).
7. (1990). "Ion-channel laser". Physical Review Letters.
8. (2024-10-01). "Coherent X-ray diffraction imaging of single particles: background impact on 3D reconstruction". Journal of Applied Crystallography.
9. (2023-05-10). "Non-thermal evolution of dense plasmas driven by intense x-ray fields". Communications Physics.
10. (2025-03-01). "Compact laser-driven plasma X-ray source for time-resolved diffraction, spectroscopy and imaging experiments at ELI Beamlines". Journal of Synchrotron Radiation.
11. (2023-01-01). "High-speed X-ray study of process dynamics caused by surface features during continuous-wave laser polishing". CIRP Annals.