title: A capillary discharge as a potential x-ray laser driver.
abstract: This paper describes a combined theoretical and experimental approach to understanding the capillary spark discharge with specific application to use as a soft x-ray or extreme ultraviolet laser source. Atomic physics calculations have identified several potential laser lines in a collisionally pumped neon-like or nickel-like plasma, and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modeling has shown that a capillary discharge device should be capable of producing the correct plasma conditions to achieve a population inversion in some of these lines. An experiment is constructed to evaluate the accuracy of the MHD model and investigate the potential of observing inversion in a neon-like argon or a nickel-like krypton plasma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602.
authors.forename: B G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Ivanova
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: T T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Stark
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Panin
authors.forename: L V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Knight