Abstract

Measurements in the soft x-ray and extreme ultaraviolet regions of the spectrum have historically been hampered by the lack of a bright, tunable source. Although synchrotron radiation sources are gradually filling this need, such facilities are not sufficiently compact and inexpensive to be within the reach of an average laboratory. The commercial availability of compact, inexpensive pulsed lasers has changed this picture. The high temperature plasma produced when the light from such a laser is focused upon a suitable metal or dielectric target emits x-rays and extreme ultraviolet radiation that can either be a rich line spectrum or a smooth and intense continuum, depending upon the target material. Such a source needs only monochromatization to make it useful for a wide variety of measurements and calibrations.

© 1992 Optical Society of America