Inner-Shell Photon-Ionized X-Ray Laser at 45(Angstrom)

This report summarizes the major accomplishments of this three-year Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Lab Wide (LW) project entitled, ''An Inner-Shell Photo-Ionized X-Ray Laser at 45 (angstrom)'', tracking code 99-LW-042. The most significant accomplishments of this project include the design of a suitable x-ray laser target, the invention of a measurement technique for the determination of rise times of x-ray pulses on the order of 50 femtoseconds, and a novel setup for generating a traveling wave with an ultrashort optical laser pulse. The pump probe technique for rise time measurement will allow us to detect ultrashort x-ray pulses, whose generation by means of a variety of 4th generation light sources is currently under planning elsewhere