Table-top transient collisional excitation x-ray laser research at LLNL

We describe recent experiments at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to produce a table-top x-ray laser. Using a combination of long 800 ps and short {approximately}1 ps high power laser pulses with {approximately} 6 J in each beam, a transient collisionally excited Ne-like ion x-ray laser scheme has been investigated. We present results of high x-ray laser gain for the Ne- like Ti 3p-3s J=O-l transition at 326 {Angstrom} and have achieved gL product of 15 for target lengths up to 1 cm. We have extended the transient collisional scheme to shorter wavelengths using the Ni-like analog, specifically the 4d-4p J=O-l of Ni-like Pd at 147 {Angstrom}