We have constructed a scanning soft-x-ray microscope that uses a laser-produced plasma as the soft-x-ray source and normal-incidence multilayer-coated mirrors in a Schwarzschild configuration as the focusing optics. The microscope operates at a wavelength of 14 nm, has a spatial resolution of 0.5 microm, and has a soft-x-ray photon flux through the focus of 10(4)-10(5) sec(-1) when operated wit...

This paper presents a new approach to closed-loop control of optical jitter with a new liquid crystal beam steering device. In contrast to conventional fast steering mirrors, where the laser beam is reflected of the controlled mirror surface, the transmissive liquid crystal beam steering device optically redirects the laser beam. The new device has no moving parts and requires low operating pow...

We demonstrate self-starting 6.5-fs pulses from a Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser with 200-mW average output power at a pulse repetition rate of ~86 M Hz. This is to our knowledge the shortest pulse ever generated directly from a laser. For dispersion compensation we used a prism pair in combination with double-chirped mirrors, which balances the higher-order dispersion of the prism pai...

In passive enhancement cavities the achievable power level is limited by mirror damage. Here, we address the design of robust optical resonators with large spot sizes on all mirrors, a measure that promises to mitigate this limitation by decreasing both the intensity and the thermal gradient on the mirror surfaces. We introduce a misalignment sensitivity metric to evaluate the robustness of res...

Adaptive x-ray optics are more and more used in synchrotron beamlines, and it is probable that they will be considered for the future high-power free-electron laser sources, as the European XFEL now under construction in Hamburg, or similar projects now in discussion. These facilities will deliver a high power x-ray beam, with an expected high heat load delivered on the optics. For this reason,...

High-index contrast grating mirrors providing wave front control of the transmitted light as well as high reflectivity over a broad bandwidth are suggested and both numerically and experimentally investigated. General design rules to engineer these structures for different applications are derived. Such grating mirrors would have a significant impact on low cost laser fabrication, since a more ...

We report on experimental observation of radiation-pressure induced effects in a high-power optical cavity. These effects play an important role in next generation gravitational wave (GW) detectors, as well as in quantum non-demolition (QND) interferometers. We measure the properties of an optical spring, created by coupling of an intense laser field to the pendulum mode of a suspended mirror; ...

We describe the first demonstration of plasma mirrors made using freely suspended, ultra-thin films formed dynamically and in-situ. We also present novel particle-in-cell simulations that for the first time incorporate multiphoton ionization and dielectric models that are necessary for describing plasma mirrors. Dielectric plasma mirrors are a crucial component for high intensity laser applicat...

Photodarkening (PD) of Er/Yb-doped and undoped phosphate fibers caused by pulsed 193 nm irradiation from an ArF excimer laser to form Bragg grating mirrors is investigated. Doped and undoped phosphate fibers exhibit the same level of significant UV-induced PD loss, which is associated with the formation of a color center band at 467 nm. The UV-induced absorption extends into the NIR and creates...