Demonstration of high gain in a recombination XUV laser at 18.2 nm driven by a 20 J, 2 ps glass laser

An exceptionally high gain coefficient has been obtained at 18.2 nm in a C VI recombination laser driven by a 2 ps, 20 J, Nd-glass laser operating by chirped pulse amplification. Carbon fiber targets of 7 μm diameter and up to 5 mm length were irradiated at 6 × 1015 W cm-2. The time and space integrated gain coefficient on the 18.2 nm Balmer α transition was measured to be 12.5 ± 1.5 cm-1. Comparison with numerical modeling suggests that saturated laser action would be obtained with less than a factor of 2 increase in length