Spectral investigations of photoionized plasmas induced in atomic and molecular gases using nanosecond extreme ultraviolet (EUV) pulses

In this paper, results of spectral investigations of low temperature photoionized plasmas, created by irradiation of gases with intense pulses of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation from a laser-produced plasma (LPP) source, are presented. The LPP source was based on a double-stream KrXe/He gas-puff target irradiated with 4 ns/0.8 J/10 Hz Nd:YAG laser pulses. The most intense emission from the source spanned a relatively narrow spectral region λ ≈ 10–12 nm; however, spectrally integrated intensity at longer wavelengths was also significant. The EUV beam was focused on a gas stream, injected into a vacuum chamber synchronously with the EUV pulses. Irradiation of gases resulted in formation of photoionized plasmas emitting radiation in the EUV range. Radiation spectra, measured for plasmas produced in various gases, are dominated by emission lines, originating from single charged ions. Significant differences in spectral intensities and distributions between plasmas created in neon and molecular gases were observed.