Abstract: The invention can be used for setting up high energy and high average power soft x-ray laser equipments. The apparatus of the present invention is provided with a capillary discharge, wherein the spark gap (3) is disposed in water and breakdown of the spark gap (3) is triggered and synchronized by a laser source (16). In order to complete the synchronizing step the apparatus comprises a transformer (12) for monitoring and controlling the decrease of the charging current of the generator, preferably a Marx generator (7), and a triggering circuit (14). The time dependent control of the laser source (16) generating the breakdown of the spark gap (3) is achieved by the triggering circuit (14).

Abstract: The invention can be used for setting up high energy and high average power soft x-ray laser equipments. The apparatus of the present invention is provided with a capillary discharge, wherein the spark gap (3) is disposed in water and breakdown of the spark gap (3) is triggered and synchronized by a laser source (16). In order to complete the synchronizing step the apparatus comprises a transformer (12) for monitoring and controlling the decrease of the charging current of the generator, preferably a Marx generator (7), and a triggering circuit (14). The time dependent control of the laser source (16) generating the breakdown of the spark gap (3) is achieved by the triggering circuit (14).

Abstract: A transversely discharge-pumped gas laser has a discharge vessel, which encloses a laser gas and at least one pair of oppositely disposed elongated discharge electrodes which extend in a predetermined longitudinal direction and are separated by a discharge region, in which laser radiation is generated which propagates along a beam path. The beam path passes once or a plurality of times through the discharge region. The direction of the beam path of the sole pass or some or all of the multiple passes forms an angle different from zero with the longitudinal direction of the elctrodes. The angle or angles are chosen such that the quality, homogeneity of intensity profile, gain and output energy of a resulting output beam are well balanced.

Abstract: An optical pulse compressor having a single deflecting dispersive optical element in the form of a diffraction grating (10) or prism for temporal compression of an optical pulse, the frequency of which increases during the pulse duration. An elongated target (T) for receiving the compressed pulse is arranged in parallel with an output surface of the grating or prism. To increase the inclination of the pulse front for effective synchronous travelling wave excitation of the target the output surface of the diffraction grating or prism can be interfaced by an immersion medium or the beam path can be made to converge in the plane containing the target by a cylindrical lens or a reducing imaging optical system can be arranged between the grating or prism and the target.

Abstract: An apparatus for measuring the duration of single short optical radiation lses, particularly laser radiation pulses, by means of autocorrelation and two-photon ionization, contains a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (BS1, BS2, M1, M2) as beam splitter means for generating from a single input radiation pulse (10) two coherent component pulses (14, 16) propagating along two component beam paths (18, 20) each of which contains a section (18a20a) passing through a meausring zone (22) where they overlap, further a two-photon ionization detector having a measuring zone (22) and collector electrode means (36) and counter-electrode means (38) at which an electric output signal is available depending on the number of charge carriers generated in the measuring zone when the component beam pulses overlap, and a measuring system connected to the electrode means (36, 38).

Abstract: A laser with distributed feedback utilizes an active laser medium, especiy a dye solution contained in a cell, excited by a pump radiation beam that passes through an optical grating or like device, and an optical imaging system arranged between the optical device and the laser medium; the imaging system, in combination with the optical device, forms a striped pump radiation pattern in the laser medium. The optical imaging system contains a microscope lens in retro position, or another scale reducing or demagnifying lens system, and may optionally, include a variable-focus lens for altering the imaging scale and, therefore, the wavelength of the laser emission.

Abstract: A method of producing individual short laser pulses in which a stimulatable laser medium is excited by a pump pulse in order to produce a population inversion above a laser threshold value, the population inversion being kept below the threshold value after emission of the short radiation pulse. The laser medium is common to two resonators and from it energy in the form of the desired individual short laser radiation pulse is first taken from the first resonator by means of a first relaxation process of given threshold value, relatively short time constant and relatively low quality factor, after which the inversion in the laser medium is kept below the preset threshold value of the first resonance process by a second relaxation process of relatively long time constant and relatively high quality factor in the second resonator coupled to the first.