2-DIMENSIONAL NEAR-FIELD IMAGES OF THE NEON-LIKE GERMANIUM SOFT-X-RAYLASER

We present what are believed to be the first two-dimensional near-fiel d images of the neonlike germanium x-ray laser obtained with multilaye r imaging mirrors. The Asterix iodine laser, with a low-intensity prep ulse 5.23 ns before the main pulse, Nas used to irradiate germanium sl ab targets. We observe a large difference in the spatial dependence of the J = 0-1 and J = 2-1 lines of germanium, with the J = 2-1 emission peaking farther away from the target surface. The prepulse level is a lso observed to have a significant effect on the spatial dependence of the germanium laser lines. A great deal of structure is observed in t he near-field images, particularly in the J = 0-1 emission. (C) 1996 O ptical Society of America