X-RAY LASER DEVELOPMENTS AT PHELIX

Development of x-ray lasers using the PHELIX laser at the GSI Helmholtz center for heavy-ion research [1] is targeting a number of applications of novel x-ray sources in combination with energetic heavy-ion beams. This includes Thomson scattering diagnostics of heavy-ion driven plasmas, x-ray opacity measurements, and x-ray laser spectroscopy of highly-charged ions. Developments centered on the application of a novel double-pulse GRIP-like pumping scheme, DGRIP, where nonnormal incidence geometry is used for both the pre- and the main pulse for transient pumped Ni-like x-ray lasers [2,3]. This scheme was used at lower energy levels to pump soft x-ray lasers in the 50 – 100 eV regime as well as for pulse energies above 100 J for the pumping of shorter wavelength soft x-ray lasers [4].