High-gain soft-x-ray-pumped photoionization laser in zinc vapor

Abstract

Large inversion densities in Zn+ have been produced by photoionizing inner-shell d electrons with the broadband soft-x-ray flux from a 1.06-μm laser-produced plasma. This pumping scheme is an effective technique for rapidly producing large population densities (5×1013 cm−3) in the 3d9 4s2 2D5/2 upper laser level. These large densities (a) produced laser action on a two-electron transition from the d-electron manifold to the outer-electron manifold at 7478 Å, (b) allowed the isotope shifts on this relatively weak transition to be measured, and (c) may eventually be transferred to other high lying states in Zn+ to produce vacuum ultraviolet lasers.