Apparatus for generation of nanojoule-class water-window high-order harmonics

In our recent study [Fu et al., Commun. Phys. 3(1), 92 (2020)], we have developed an approach for energy-scaling of high-order harmonic generation in the water-window region under a neutral-medium condition. More specifically, we obtained a nanojoule-class water-window soft x-ray harmonic beam under a phase-matching condition. It has been achieved by combining a newly developed terawatt-class mid-infrared femtosecond laser and a loose-focusing geometry for high-order harmonic generation. The generated beam is more than 100 times intense compared to previously reported results. The experimental setup included two key parts: a terawatt mid-infrared femtosecond driving laser [Fu et al., Sci. Rep. 8(1), 7692 (2018)] and a specially designed gas cell. Despite the dramatic drop in the optimal gas pressure for phase-matching due to loose-focusing geometry, it still reached the 1 bar level for helium. Thus, we have designed a double-structured pulsed-gas cell with a differential pumping system, which enabled providing sufficiently high gas pressure. Moreover, it allowed reducing gas consumption significantly. A robust energy-scalable apparatus for high-order harmonic generation developed in this study will enable the generation of over ten-nanojoule water-window attosecond pulses in the near future.