Continuous high-repetition-rate operation of collisional soft-x-ray lasers with solid targets

We have generated a laser average output power of 2 microW at a wavelength of 13.9 nm by operating a tabletop laser-pumped Ni-like Ag laser at a 5 Hz repetition rate, using a solid helicoidal target that is continuously rotated and advanced to renew the target surface between shots. More than 2 x 10(4) soft-x-ray laser shots were obtained by using a single target. Similar results were obtained at 13.2 nm in Ni-like Cd with a Cd-coated target. This scheme will allow uninterrupted operation of laser-pumped tabletop collisional soft-x-ray lasers at a repetition rate of 10 Hz for a period of hours, enabling the generation of continuous high average soft-x-ray powers for applications.     

Pressure and temperature dependence of the recombination of p-fluorobenzyl radicals

The rate constants of the recombination reaction of p-fluorobenzyl radicals, p-F-C6H4CH2 + p-F-C6H4CH2 (+M) --> C14H12F2 (+M), have been measured over the pressure range 0.2-800 bar and the temperature range 255-420 K. Helium, argon, and CO2 were employed as bath gases (M). At pressures below 0.9 bar in Ar and CO2, and 40 bar in He, the rate constant k1 showed no dependence on the pressure and the nature of the bath gas, clearly indicating that it had reached the limiting high-pressure value of the energy-transfer (ET) mechanism (k(1,infinity)ET). A value of k(1,infinity)ET(T) = (4.3 +/- 0.5) x 10(-11) (T/300 K)(-0.2) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1) was determined. At pressures above about 5 bar, the k1 values in Ar and CO2 were found to gradually increase in a pressure range where according to energy-transfer mechanism, they should remain at the constant value k(1,infinity)ET. The enhancement of the recombination rate constant beyond the value k(1,infinity)ET increased in the order He < Ar < CO2, and it became more pronounced with decreasing temperature. The dependences of k1 on pressure, temperature, and the bath gas were similar to previous observations in the recombination of benzyl radicals. The effect of fluorine-substitution of the benzyl ring on k1 values is discussed. The present results confirm the significant role of radical complexes in the recombination kinetics of benzyl-type radicals in the gas-liquid transition range. The observations on a rate enhancement beyond the experimental value of k(1,infinity)ET at elevated densities up to the onset of diffusion-control are consistently explained by the kinetic contribution of a "radical-complex" mechanism which is solely based on standard van der Waals interaction between radicals and bath gases.