Feasibility study of broadband efficient “water window” source

• DOI: 10.1063/1.3673912
• Publication Date: 2012-01-04T02:19:30Z
• Authors: Takeshi Higashiguchi; Takamitsu Otsuka; Noboru Yugami; Weihua Jiang; Akira Endo; Bowen Li; Padraig Dunne; Gerry O’Sullivan
• Keywords: Plasma; Mirrors; Laser beam effects; 0103 physical sciences; Laser plasmas; Laser-plasma interactions; 7. Clean energy; 01 natural sciences

We demonstrate a table-top broadband emission water window source based on laser-produced high-Z plasmas. Resonance emission from multiply charged ions merges to produce intense unresolved transition arrays (UTAs) in the 2–4 nm region, extending below the carbon K edge (4.37 nm). Arrays resulting from n=4-n=4 transitions are overlaid with n=4-n=5 emission and shift to shorter wavelength with increasing atomic number. An outline of a microscope design for single-shot live cell imaging is proposed based on a bismuth plasma UTA source, coupled to multilayer mirror optics.