Gain measurements at 18.22 nm in C vi generated by a Nd:glass laser

We present recent gain measurements in C VI at 18.22 nm for a soft-x-ray amplifier produced by a line-focused glass laser (1.053 sm) on a solid carbon target. The maximum gain measured was 8 + 2 cm- ' in the recombining plasma column, with additional radiation cooling by iron impurities. Recent research in soft-x-ray laser development is progressing in the direction of obtaining shorter wave-lengths. Significant advances are also being made in the XUV region. Much attention is being devoted to the first applications of these lasers. The possibility of using soft-x-ray lasers for the microscopy of living cells has stimulated research in the development of x-ray lasers operating in the wavelength region of 2.33-4.37 nm, the so-called water window.1'2 Impressive advances in longer-wavelength XUV lasers, such as the one recently demonstrated at 108.9 nm,3'4 have significant potential applications in chemistry. A