A Pulsed-Power Driven Krypton Soft X-Ray Laser Based on A Stabilized Z-Pinch Load

Pulsed power is known to be the most efficient way of converting stored electrical energy into plasma thermal energy. Such plasma thermal energy would be available for pumping a soft x-ray laser. High-gain 3s - 3p transitions in neon-like krypton are very attractive for lasing (high rate of collisional excitation to the upper lasing level, fast decay of lower lasing level). Existsng pulsed-power devices readily produce krypton plasma in the desired temperature and density ranges. The only major problem for a pulsed-power driven x-ray laser design is the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability of the imploding plasma. This instability produces unacceptably high and irregular density gradients, and thereby, refraction losses exceeding otherwise acceptable energy gain. In Phase I we will develop a detailed design of a pulsed-power driven soft x-ray laser hased on the methods of mitigating the RT instability. In Phase II we intend to demonstrate operation of an x-ray laser pumped by a 3 MA range pulsed-power device. Successful development will allow soft x-ray laser technology utilizing the most effective and inexpensive energyVsources. Once demonstrated on a large device, this technology is scalable to commercial-grade table top x-ray lasers.