The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 23, 1996
Filed:
Mar. 14, 1994
Charles K Rhodes, Chicago, IL (US);
Keith Boyer, Los Alamos, NM (US);
Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL (US);
Abstract
Apparatus and method for generating prompt X-radiation from gas clusters. The present invention includes the excitation of inner-shell electrons in the atoms comprising gas clusters using intense ultraviolet laser radiation, thereby producing intense, prompt X-ray emission from the ensemble. Clusters enable atomic excitation rates to achieve the high values characteristic of condensed matter while simultaneously eliminating, through local rapid expansion to low particle density, undesirable collisional interactions that would establish equilibrium conditions in the excited material, and effectively destroy the inner-shell specificity of the excitation. By choosing the atomic species in the cluster, the laser intensity and wavelength, and the cluster size, one can determine the wavelength of X-radiation emitted from the clusters. Moreover, by selecting the energy levels involved in the excitation process, one can produce a population inversion having significant gain and suitable for lasing.