X-ray generation by femtosecond laser pulses and its application to soft X-ray imaging microscope.

We have developed laser-produced plasma X-ray sources using femtosecond laser pulses at 10Hz repetition rate in a table-top size in order to investigate basic mechanism of X-ray emission from laser-matter interactions and its application to a X-ray microscope. In a soft X-ray region over 5 nm wavelength, laser-plasma X-ray emission from a solid target achieved an intense flux of photons of the order of 10[SUP11] photons/rad per pulse with duration of a few 100 ps, which is intense enough to make a clear imaging in a short time exposure. As an application of laser-produced plasma X-ray source, we have developed a soft X-ray imaging microscope operating in the wavelength range around 14 nm. The microscope consists of a cylindrically ellipsoidal condenser mirror and a Schwarzshird objective mirror with highly-reflective multilayers. We report preliminary results of performance tests of the soft X-ray imaging microscope with a compact laser-produced plasma X-ray source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]