The search for table-top and repetitive pump schemes during the last decade has been the driving force behind the spectacular advances demonstrated during the 10th International Conference on X-Ray Lasers, organized in 2006 in Berlin. The proceedings of this series of conferences constitute a comprehensive source of reference of the acknowledged state-of the-art in this specific area of laser and plasma physics.

These proceedings comprise of invited and contributed papers presented at the 13th International Conference on X-Ray Lasers (ICXRL 2012) which was held 11–15 June 2012 in Paris, France, in the famous Quartier Latin, inside the historical Center of Cordeliers. This conference is part of a continuing series dedicated to recent developments and applications of x-ray lasers and other coherent x-ray sources with attention to supporting technologies and instrumentation. New results in the generation of intense coherent x-rays and progress towards practical devices and their applications are reported in these proceedings, including areas of research in plasma-based x-ray lasers, 4th generation accelerator-based sources and higher harmonic generation. Recent achievements related to the increase of the repetition rate up to 100 Hz and shorter wavelength collisional plasma-based soft x-ray lasers down to about 7 nm are presented. Seeding the amplifying plasma with a femtosecond high-order harmonic of infrared laser was foreseen as the required breakthrough to break the picosecond frontier. Numerical simulations based on the Maxwell-Bloch model are presented in these proceedings, transposing the chirped pulse amplification technique to the x-ray domain in order to increase the time over which the femtosecond seed can be amplified. These proceedings also include innovative applications of soft x–ray lasers based on techniques and diagnostics relevant to topical domains such as EUV lithography, inertial confinement fusion, or warm dense matter physics.

The ultra-bright femtosecond X-ray pulses provided by X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) open up opportunities to study the structure and dynamics of a wide variety of systems beyond what is possible with synchrotron sources. This book introduces the principles and properties of currently operating and future XFELs, before outlining applications in materials science, chemistry and biology. Edited by pioneers in this exciting field, and featuring contributions from leading researchers, this book is ideal for researchers working with XFELs, synchrotron radiation, ultrafast and femtosecond crystallography and femtosecond spectroscopy.

The 11th International Conference on X-Ray Lasers had contributions in the following topical areas: Transient Collisional X-Ray Lasers, Table-Top High Repetition Rate X-Ray Lasers, Optical-Field Ionised (OFI) X-Ray Lasers, Theory and Simulation of X-Ray Lasers, High Order Harmonic Generation, XUV Optics and X-Ray Laser Applications, Capillary Discharge X-Ray Lasers, Alternative Sources of coherent XUV Radiation. The proceedings of this conference constitute a comprehensive source of reference for scientists involved in researching the development and application of coherent X-Ray sources.

These proceedings comprise invited and contributed papers presented at the 14th International Conference on X-Ray Lasers (ICXRL 2014). This conference is part of a continuing series dedicated to recent developments and applications of x-ray lasers and other coherent x-ray sources with attention to supporting technologies and instrumentation. New results in the generation of intense, coherent x-rays and progress toward practical devices and their applications in numerous fields are reported. Areas of research in plasma-based x-ray lasers, 4th generation accelerator-based sources and higher harmonic generation, and other x-ray generation schemes are covered. The scope of ICXRL 2014 included, but was not limited to: Laser-pumped X-ray lasers Discharge excitation and other X-ray laser pumping methods Injection/seeding of X-ray amplifiers New lasing transitions and novel X-ray laser schemes High Harmonic sources-Free-electron laser generation in the XUV and X-ray range Novel schemes for coherent XUV and X-ray generation XUV and X-ray optics and metrology-Driving laser technology Theory and modeling of X-ray gain medium and beam characteristics Applications of high brightness and ultrashort X-ray sources

These proceedings gather a selection of invited and contributed papers presented during the 16th International Conference on X-Ray Lasers (ICXRL 2018), held in Prague, Czech Republic, from 7 to 12 October 2018. The conference is part of an ongoing series dedicated to recent developments in the science and technology of X-ray lasers and other coherent X-ray sources, with an additional focus on supporting technologies, instrumentation and applications. The book highlights advances in a wide range of fields including laser and discharge-pumped plasma X-ray lasers, the injection and seeding of X-ray amplifiers, high-order harmonic generation and ultrafast phenomena, X-ray free electron lasers, novel schemes for (in)coherent XUV, X-ray and γ-ray generation, XUV and X-ray imaging, optics and metrology, X-rays and γ-rays for fundamental science, the practical implementation of X-ray lasers, XFELs and super-intense lasers, and the applications and industrial uses of X-ray lasers.

This book provides a thorough account of the current status of achievements made in the area of soft X-Ray laser source development and of the increasingly diverse applications being demonstrated using such radiation sources. There is significant effort worldwide to develop very bright, short duration radiation sources in the X-Ray spectral region – driven by the multitude of potential applications in all branches of science. This book contains updates on several different approaches for comparative purposes but concentrates on developments in the area of laser-produced plasmas, whereby transient population inversion and gain between ion states is pumped by optical lasers interacting with pre-formed plasmas. Topics covered will include Laser-driven XRLs, Collisional XRLs, Recombination XRLs, Transient Inversion Collisional XRLs, Optical Field Ionization XRLs, Alternative XRL, pumping schemes Theory and simulations of XRL gain media and beam properties High order harmonic sources of XUV radiation, Free-electron lasers and other accelerator based X-Ray sources, X-Ray Laser drives, X-Ray optics and instrumentation Spectroscopy, and other diagnostics of laser media Applications of XRLs.