Ni-like collisional lasers using moderate power laser drivers

Abstract

The hydrodynamic behavior of a Ta exploding foil using a double pulse in order to achieve favorable conditions for a Ni-like collisional x-ray laser with moderate driver energy have been examined in detail. It is shown that plasma conditions required for high gain lasing can be produced with ×4 reduced laser power as compared with Maxon’s scheme [Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 2285 (1993)], provided that the second pulse is correctly timed and is delivered before transparency of the target to the incident laser light. This makes water window x-ray lasers within the reach of many moderately sized laser installations.