A Compact Pulse Power System for Capillary Discharge Plasma-Based Soft X-Ray Laser

A compact pulse power system has been developed and successfully tested for soft X-ray lasing at 46.9 nm in argon plasma generated by fast capillary discharge scheme. The system has been designed with the aim to generate high current with a high rate of rise in the gas-filled ceramic (Al
₂
O
₃
) capillary (radius 1.4 mm and length 150 mm). The electrical parameters for the compact system were fixed using circuit simulation and the setup design was optimized using electrostatic field simulation software. A 10-stage 100-400 kV, 6-nF Marx generator is used to pulse charge the 3.2 nF, 35-nH water filled coaxial capacitor. The improvement in the output laser energy has been observed due to faster rise time of discharge current. The highest current observed was 70 kA, achieving a rate of rise of current ~2 × 10
¹²
A/s in 97 mm long, 2.8 mm inner diameter capillary. We strongly believe that the performance of the system is suitable for study of discharge plasmas from gasses other than the argon for exploring recombination-based X-ray lasing at wavelengths shorter than 46.9 nm.