High Brightness Solid State Lasers for Compact Short Wavelength Sources
Various types of compact short wavelength sources are emerging in the region from EUV to hard X ray and further to gamma ray. These high energy photons are usually accessible in a large scale facility such as SR or FEL, and the compactness of these new technologies provides new possibilities for broader applications in dedicated laborato ries or factories. Laser produced plasma is used for soft X ray laser and high average power EUV sources for lithography. Laser Compton short wavelength sources are now entering into practical applications in medical imaging. The performance of these sources critically depends on the laser driver performance. This chapter describes the recent progress of high brightness, short pulse solid state laser technology in close relation to these new compact short wavelength sources. Pulsed picosecond thin disc laser progress is reviewed with kW average power specifications. Cryogenic laser is reported for the advantage of higher beam quality in large pulse energy operation.