Radiation in the 1-4 nm soft X-ray (SXR) range is of tremendous interest for element-resolved investigations in fields as diverse as physics, chemistry, material science, the semiconductor industry and pharmacy. Typically, such investigations are conducted at large-scale synchrotron facilities or require free-electron lasers, and incur large costs. The spectacular advance of mid-IR lasers and high-harmonic generation (HHG) has recently culminated in attosecond pulse table-top sources of soft X-ray radiation. A large obstacle to widespread proliferation of attosecond technology is the efficient generation of SXR flux in a compact setup which is accessible to the non-specialist. The present project thus aimed at the miniaturization, simplification and cost reduction for SXR technology. As a first step, we successfully validated that SXR source brightness of our source is on par with the brightest synchrotron slicing sources. A second validation showed that measurements indeed deliver identical results compared to a synchrotron. Based on these validations, we realized a compact and cost-saving setup to confine up to 100 bars of helium within a path length of only a few millimeters. The setup also provides a rapid and windowless transition to UHV to mitigate reabsorption and ensures compatibility with direct spectroscopic detection. We have realized two compact setups which reduce cost by an order of magnitude and miniaturize the SXR generation setup to the size of a translation stage. Beyond the technological realization, we have completed a market study and initiated negotiations with industry.
