Longitudinal coherence measurements of a transient collisional x-ray laser

We present what is to our knowledge the first longitudinal coherence measurement of a transient inversion collisional x-ray laser. We investigated the picosecond output of a Ni-like Pd x-ray laser at 14.68 nm generated by the COMET laser facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Interference fringes were generated with a Michelson interferometer setup in which a thin multilayer membrane was used as a beam splitter. We determined the longitudinal coherence for the 4d(1)S(0) --> 4p(1)P(1) lasing transition to be similar to400 mum (1/e half-Width) by changing,the length of one interferometer arm and measuring the resultant variation in fringe visibility.. The inferred gain-narrowed linewidth of similar to0.29 pm is a factor of 4 less than previously measured in quasi-steady-state x-ray laser schemes. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.