Toward shorter wavelength lasers and soft X-ray laser microscopy

The authors present two approaches to X-ray laser development at Princeton and review progress toward the wavelength region below 10 nm. In addition, they present the first results from the application of the existing soft X-ray laser at 18.2 nm to X-ray microscopy. Particular emphasis is placed on experimentation with Li-like ions, the modeling of Li-like plasmas, cavity development, and a two-laser approach to wavelengths significantly below 10 nm