Demonstration of a 10-mu J tabletop laser at 52.9 nm in neonlike chlorine

We report the demonstration of laser amplification at 52.9 nm in Ne-like Cl with a compact capillary discharge. Laser output pulses with energies of a s much as 10 mu J have been obtained. The beam divergence was approximately 4 mrad. This new 23.4-eV tabletop laser is of particular interest for appl ications that require high peak fluxes of photons with energy slightly belo w the He photoionization threshold. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America OCI S codes: 140.7240, 140.3210.