XUV radiation from gaseous nitrogen and argon target laser plasmas

Laser plasma created in gaseous target is studied as a source of radiation in the "water window" wavelength range. Plasma is created by focusing an 800 mJ/7 ns Nd:YAG laser pulse into the gas-puff target. Using nitrogen gas results in emission of an intense quasi-monochromatic radiation with the wavelength 2.88 nm, corresponding to the quantum transition 1s2p → 1s2 of helium –like nitrogen ion. The emission spectrum with argon target covers all the water window range. Laboratory and computer experiments have been performed for both target gases. The spatial distributions of emitted energy in the water window spectral range were compared. The total emitted energy with argon was one order higher than with nitrogen.