High-intensity applications of excimer lasers

Abstract

A key high-intensity application of excimer lasers has been the study of nonlinear interactions at ultraviolet wavelengths in atoms, molecules, and plasmas. A principal outcome of this research has been the demonstration of saturated amplification in the multikilovolt (∼4230-4570 eV ) X-ray regime that arises from the ability to produce and controllably combine two new highly ordered forms of excited matter, hollow atoms and stable electronically hollow plasma channels. Over an intensity range spanning ∼1014-10 20 W/cm2, this article reviews the main experimental and theoretical advances made over the past two decades in relation to the realization of this new X-ray source whose peak brightness is sufficient for the implementation of a new high-resolution technology for biological micro-imaging. © 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.