Population inversion and gain measurements for X-ray laser development in magnetically confined plasma column in fiscal year 1984

This report covers X-ray laser development in magnetically confined plasmas, as well as in expanding recombining plasma columns using time resolved soft X-ray monochromators. Experiments with both solid and gas targets resulted in gain measurements for hydrogen-like Carbon(6+) (CVI) ions and population inversion measurements for lithium-like Neon(8+) (NeVIII) ions. Our most recent results, involving carbon disc targets in a 90 k Gauss field with a 300 Joule carbon dioxide laser pulse, in which a one-pass gain of kl 6.5 (enhancement of stimulated emission over spontaneous emission about 100) was obtained for CVI 182A are presented. Results of a gain kl = 3.0 (k approx. 7.5/cm) for thick carbon fiber targets are also presented. Population inversions of NeVIII ions as a function of initial gas pressure are also discussed, as well as an overview of the instrumentation, experimental setup, and target configurations used.