Objective The research under this network is contributing to the development of increased coherent power in X-ray lasers, the development of shorter wavelength lasers, to obtaining greater understanding of the mechanisms producing X-ray lasing and to better characterization of X-ray laser outputs. Various high power optical lasers associated with members of the network are used to pump X-ray lasers by producing line plasmas with lasing occurring along the length. Collisional pumping mechanisms are being studied to obtain optimum pumping conditions for neon- and nickel-like ions of different atomic number and to maximize the coherent output power. Multilayer mirrors are used to produce half-cavities and to diagnose the X-ray laser beams. Recombination lasers produced from low mass targets (fibres and gas jets) using short and ultra-short pumping laser pulses (< 2 ps) are being investigated. Photo-pumped lasing is being studied by searching for coincident line pairs and by investigating X-rays produced by ultra-short laser pulses.Research has been undertaken in the development of increased coherent power in X-ray lasers, the development of shorter wavelength lasers, to obtain greater understanding of the mechanisms producing X-ray lasing and to better characterization of X-ray laser outputs. Various high power optical lasers are used to pump X-ray lasers by producing line plasmas with lasing occurring along the length. Collisional pumping mechanisms are being studied to obtain optimum pumping conditions for neon and nickel like ions of different atomic number and to maximize the coherent output power. Multilayer mirrors are used to produce half cavities and to diagnose the X-ray laser beams. Recombination lasers produced from low mass targets (fibres and gas jets) using short and ultrashort pumping laser pulses (less than 2 ps) are being investigated. Photopumped lasing is being studied by searching for coincident line pairs and by investigating X-rays produced by ultrashort laser pulses. Two breakthroughs in recombination laser research have occurred. Convincing evidence for recombination pumping from gas jet targets on NV 3d-5f has been demonstrated for a 100 fentosecond titanium: sapphire laser. Gain length products of 6 to 7 on CVI n = 3-2 from carbon fibre targets irradiated by 40 joule, 2 ps driving laser pulses have been measured. The former result shows that optical field ionization can produce short wavelength lasing and the latter results mean that saturation of a recombination laser could be produced with only twice the target length already employed. It has been shown that there is no preferred polarization in the output of the neon like germanium laser at 23 nm, but that an injected beam polarized using multilayers when amplified has the polarization preserved. Simulations of collisionally excited neon like zinc X-ray laser output agree with other experiments, where interestingly the lower wavelength J = O - 1 line is more intense. Fields of science natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrynoble gasesnatural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrytransition metalsnatural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrymetalloidsnatural sciencesphysical sciencesopticslaser physics Programme(s) FP3-HCM - Specific research and technological development programme (EEC) in the field of human capital and mobility, 1990-1994 Topic(s) Data not available Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator University of Essex Address Wivenhoe park CO4 3SQ Colchester United Kingdom See on map EU contribution No data Participants (9) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA) France EU contribution € 0,00 Address Centre d'etudes de limeil-valenton 94195 Villeneuve-saint-georges See on map Other funding No data Institut für Nichtlineare Optik und Kurzzeitspektroskopie Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address Rudower chaussee 6 12489 Berlin See on map Other funding No data Lund University Sweden EU contribution € 0,00 Address 221 00 Lund See on map Other funding No data MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN E.V. Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address 1,hans-kopfermann-strasse 1 85748 Garching See on map Other funding No data Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften eV Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address Max-wien-platz 1 07743 Jena See on map Other funding No data THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address Keble road 1- denys wilkinson building OX1 3RH Oxford See on map Other funding No data THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address University road BT7 1NN Belfast See on map Other funding No data UNIVERSITY OF YORK United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address Heslington YO1 5DD York See on map Other funding No data Université de Paris-Sud XI France EU contribution € 0,00 Address Rue georges clémenceau 91405 Orsay See on map Other funding No data