Abstract

Laser-produced plasmas are convenient laboratory light sources for many experiments in the ~1-200-nm region. We describe the properties of such a source when driven by either of two high repetition rate laser systems: a Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm) with ~600 mJ, 25-ns pulses, and a 10-Hz repetition rate and a krypton fluoride laser (249 nm) with ~300 mJ, 20-ns pulses, and a 150-Hz repetition rate. Power densities in the incident pulses at the focal spot on the plasma source targets generally were around 10¹¹ W cm^-2. The source’s cyclindrical metal targets can be rotated to provide fresh material for every shot¹ and the plasma is viewed at right angles to the incident laser beam with the normal to the surface at the focal spot being ~45° to both the laser beam and the viewing direction. The source provides a simple, inexpensive laboratory competitor to synchrotron radiation for both spectroscopy and lithography, as demonstrated by the examples presented.

© 1986 Optical Society of America