Generation and application of the soft X-ray laser beam based on capillary discharge

In this work we report on the generation and characterization of a focused soft X-ray laser beam with intensity and energy density that exceed the threshold for the ablation of PMMA. We demonstrate a feasibility of direct ablation of holes using a focused soft X-ray laser beam. Ablated craters in PMMA/gold-covered-PMMA samples were obtained by focusing the soft X-ray Ar8+ laser pulses generated by a 46.9 nm tabletop capillary-dischargepumped driver with a spherical Si/Sc multilayer mirror. It was found that the focused beam is capable by one shot to ablate PMMA, even if the focus is significantly influenced by astigmatism. Analysis of the laser beam footprints by atomic force microscope shows that ablated holes have periodic surface structure (similarly as Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structure) with period similar to 2,8 mu m and with peak-to-peak depth similar to 5-10 nm.