Saturated multikilovolt x-ray amplification with Xe clusters: single-pulse observation of Xe(L) spectral hole burning

摘要

Single-pulse measurements of spectral hole burning of Xe(L) 3d --> 2p hollow atom transition arrays observed from a self-trapped plasma channel provide new information on the dynamics of saturated amplification in the lambda similar to 2.8-2.9 Angstrom region. The spectral hole burning on transitions in the Xe34+, and Xe35+ arrays reaches full suppression of the spontaneous emission and presents a corresponding width Deltahomega(x) congruent to 60 eV, a value adequate for efficient amplification of multikilovolt x-ray pulses down to a limiting length tau(x) similar to 30 as. The depth of the suppression at 2.86 Angstrom indicates that the gain-to-loss ratio is greater than or equal to10. An independent determination of the x-ray pulse energy from damage produced on the surface of a Ti foil in the far field of the source gives a pulse energy of 20-30 muJ, a range that correlates well with the observation of the spectral hole burning and indicates an overall extraction efficiency of similar to10%. [References: 13]