Femtosecond laser driven XUV sources: High-harmonic and OFI X-ray laser studies

We report recent experimental results obtained at LOA on a femtosecond driven collisional x-ray laser. The experiment has consisted in studying the amplification of the 4d 9 5p-4d 9 5d line at 41.8 nm in Pd-like xenon. This lasing emission has been observed to dominate the output spectra when focusing a 20 TW 10Hz Ti: sapphire laser system in a few mm gas cell. The influence of several parameters on the x-ray laser emission is presented. A comparison with high harmonic sources is drawn.