Vacuum ultraviolet and extreme ultraviolet lasers: Principles, instrumentation, and applications

The foundations of coherent vacuum ultraviolet (VUV), and extreme ultraviol et (XUV) generation by non resonant tripling and two-photon resonance enhan ced four wave mixing are presented. An experimental system, currently in op eration at the University of Western Ontario, that combines VUV generation, time-of-flight mass spectrometry, supersonic jet cooling, laser-induced fl uorescence detection, and dispersive photoelectron spectroscopy capabilitie s is detailed, as are several applications in high resolution molecular spe ctroscopy and the soft ionization and detection of organic molecules.