Extreme ultraviolet continuum emission from laser-generated plasmas and applications to spectroscopy

The application of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) radiation to studies of core excited atoms, ions, molecules, and solids has led to the demand for suitable XUV continuum light sources. An excellent, compact, reproducible source is the laser produced plasma, which for a suitable choice of target material can be used to generate a line-free continuum throughout the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and XUV from 4 to 200 nm. The characteristics and underlying physics of such sources are discussed and their application to inner shell photoexcitation studies of atoms and ions are briefly described.