EXPERIMENTS ON HIGH-GAIN SOFT X-RAY LASER IN NEON-LIKE GERMANIUM PLASMAS

By means of a novel experimental design named "Double-Target Coupling", amplifications of five lines at wavelengths of 19.6, 23.2, 23.6, 24.7 and 28.6nm from the 3p-3s transitions in neon-like germanium plasmas have been observed. The germanium slabs were irradiated by two opposing laser beams with the irradiance of 1.2×10¹³W/cm² at line foci in the ~lns pulses. The values of GL, the product of gain and plasma length, of the lines at 23.2 and-23.6nm, were both about 13.Using a soft x-ray streak camera, temporal be haviours of four lines were recorded and studied.