Method and apparatus for generating short intensive pulses of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range below about 100 nm
AssigneeMax-Planck-Geselschaft zur Foerderung der Wissenschaften e.V.
InventorFritz P. Schafer
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Abstract
In a method and an apparatus for generating a hot plasma which emits elecmagnetic radiation in the wavelength range below about 100 nm in a predetermined volume, in which a laser radiation pulse of short duration with sufficient energy and power density is focused into the volume containing a target material, the laser radiation energy which is necessary for generating the plasma emitting the radiation is radiated into the target volume by a focused laser radiation pulse which is shorter than one picosecond. The method may be used in ASE X-ray laser comprising an axicon focusing optics.
Claims10
Apparatus for generating short duration pulses of high intensity electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range of approximately 100 to 0.01 nanometers emanating from a source of predetermined volume, comprising:
- an input laser emitting laser radiation pulses of given irradiation intensity and energy, each of said radiation pulses having a given maximum cross-sectional dimension D, and a duration of less than one picosecond;
- an optical focusing system for focusing each laser radiation pulse into a predetermined focal volume, at the focus of the optical system, said focal volume having dimensions substantially smaller than the maximum laser pulse dimension D, to irradiate said focal volume at a substantially higher irradiation intensity than said given irradiation intensity;
- and a target, having a volume approximating said predetermined focal volume, positioned at the focus of said optical system, the target comprising a material which generates a hot plasma emitting radiation in said wavelength range when irradiated at said higher intensity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.