Generation and application of a high-average-power polarized soft-x-ray laser beam

We demonstrate the generation of a highly polarized soft-x-ray beam with a compact high-repetition-rate tabletop soft-x-ray laser. The radiation emitt ed by a high-average-power discharge-pumped tabletop Ne-like Ar soft-x-ray laser operating at 46.9 nm was polarized with a pair of Si/Sc multilayer mi rrors designed for 45 degrees operation. A degree of polarization greater t han 0.96 was obtained. The polarized beam was used to characterize the effi ciency of a diffract;ion grating. Intense polarized soft-x-ray radiation ge nerated by compact tabletop sources has the potential to affect numerous ot her applications. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.