Long-term operation of surface high-harmonic generation from relativistic oscillating mirrors using a spooling tape

Surface high-harmonic generation in the relativistic regime is demonstrated as a source of extreme ultra-violet (XUV) pulses with extended operation time. Relativistic high-harmonic generation is driven by a frequency-doubled high-power Ti:Sapphire laser focused to a peak intensity of 3·1019 W/cm2 onto spooling tapes. We demonstrate continuous operation over up to one hour runtime at a repetition rate of 1 Hz. Harmonic spectra ranging from 20 eV to 70 eV (62 nm to 18 nm) were consecutively recorded by an XUV spectrometer. An average XUV pulse energy in the µJ range is measured. With the presented setup, relativistic surface high-harmonic generation becomes a powerful source of coherent XUV pulses that might enable applications in, e.g. attosecond laser physics and the seeding of free-electron lasers, when the laser issues causing 80-% pulse energy fluctuations are overcome.