Soft x-ray Ar + 8 laser excited by low-voltage capillary discharge

• Published in: Optics express 2023-10, Vol.31 (21), p.34381-34390
• Main Authors: Fekete, B., Kiss, M., Shapolov, A. A., Szatmari, S., Kukhlevsky, S. V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1094-4087; 1094-4087
• DOI: 10.1364/OE.498927

We demonstrated the operation of a 46.9-nm capillary discharge Ar + 8 -laser excited by electrical pulses at a very low voltage (35 − 45 kV), which is approximately two times lower than previously reported. The decrease in pulse voltage not only allows for further reduction in the size of the laser's excitation part, but also a principal shift to the experimental methods, techniques, and technologies used in ordinary pulsed gas lasers operating in the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared regions of the spectra. In an argon-filled alumina capillary with an inner diameter of 3.1 mm and a length of 22 cm, laser pulses with an energy of 4 µJ and a duration of 1.6 ns were generated. The laser produces a beam with a Gaussian intensity distribution and an FWHM divergence of 1.9 mrad. The results could be particularly useful in the development of compact, practical soft x-ray capillary lasers for use in small laboratories at educational and research institutions.