Amplification of Elliptically Polarized Sub-Femtosecond Pulses in IR-Field-Dressed Neon-Like Active Medium of a Plasma-Based X-ray Laser

Abstract

We propose a method for amplifying a train of sub-femtosecond pulses of circularly or elliptically polarized extreme ultraviolet (XUV) radiation constituted by high-order harmonics of an infrared (IR) laser field, in a neon-like active medium of a plasma-based X-ray laser, additionally irradiated with a replica of a fundamental frequency IR field. It is shown that the ellipticity of the pulses can be maintained or increased during the amplification process. The experimental implementation is suggested in an active medium of an X-ray laser based on neon-like Ti^{12+} ions irradiated by an IR laser field with a wavelength of 3.9 microns.