Soft x-ray laser pumped by charge exchange between C VII and Ar III in expanding laser-produced plasma

Abstract
A soft x-ray laser with wavelength 182 Å is proposed. The pumping mechanism is charge exchange between C VII and Ar III which occurs when a laser-produced carbon plasma expands into an argon background gas. Electron pickup is primarily into the n=3 level of C VI, and the laser transition is the Balmer-α line. Nd-glass radiation is converted into 182 Å radiation with efficiency of order 1%.