title: XUV laser-plasma source based on solid Ar filament.
abstract: We present a laser driven soft x-ray source based on a novel solid argon filament. The continuously flowing micron-sized filament (diameter approximately 56 microm, flow speed approximately 5 mms) was used as a laser target in order to generate a plasma source of high brightness in the "water window" (2.2-4.4 nm) spectral range. The emission properties of the source were characterized in detail with respect to crucial parameters such as positional and energy stability using an extreme ultraviolet (XUV) sensitive pinhole camera and an XUV spectrometer. The results are compared with an argon plasma based on a gas puff target operated under the same experimental conditions showing an increase of the brilliance by a factor of 84. By changing the capillary geometry from a constant diameter to a convergent shape the flow speed of the filament was significantly increased up to 250 mms, facilitating the operation at higher repetition rates.
authors.affiliation: Laser-Laboratorium Göttingen e.V., Hans-Adolf-Krebs-Weg 1, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany. christian.peth@llg-ev.de
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peth
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalinin
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barkusky
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: J Peter
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Toennies
authors.forename: Lev Yu
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Rusin
mesh_terms: D001128:Argon / Q000737:chemistry*; D004566:Electrodes; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006361:Heating / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D007834:Lasers; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D014965:X-Rays
chemical_list: D001128:Argon