HARMONIC-GENERATION IN THE VUV REGION AT HIGH-REPETITION-RATE

We describe here a source of subpicosecond, coherent, partially tunable radiation operating at 500 Hz repetition rate in the VUV region (200-100 nm), based on a Ti:S pump laser delivering 500 mu J, 130 fs pulses and producing harmonics both in Xe and in Ar gas targets. The gas target is injected in the interaction chamber through a high repetition rate piezoelectric valve. In particular, we have analyzed the 3rd (265 nm) and the 5th (159 nm) harmonic yields versus laser intensity in different experimental conditions, We also present a study of the optimization of the phase-matching conditions in the gas medium. In virtue of its coherence, partial tunability and high repetition rate characteristics, i.e. short data acquisition times, this laser source lends itself as a very promising tool for carrying out atomic physics experiments in the VUV spectral range