Samarium Laser Emits X-Rays

A group of British scientists successfully demonstrated the operation of a saturated nickel-like samarium x-ray laser beam at 7 nm with an output energy of 0.3 mJ in 50-ps pulses. The narrow divergence, short wavelength and pulse duration and brightness of the samarium laser make it suitable for a number of x-ray applications. Those include holography, microscopy of biological specimens, deflectometry and interferometry. X-ray lasers also have applications in radiography of dense plasmas relevant to inertial confinement fusion and laboratory astrophysics. Saturated lasers ensure the maximum power possible for a given volume of excited plasma extracted by the stimulated emission.