Polarization of amplified spontaneous emission in a plasma active medium

Kim, C. M.*; Steil, H.*; Matou, B.*; Nishikino, Masaharu; Hasegawa, Noboru; Kawachi, Tetsuya; Tran, K. A.*; Janulewicz, K. A.*

We present polarization measurement of a Ni-like Ag X-ray laser working in the transient collisional excitation scheme. A calibrated membrane multilayer beam splitter was used to determine the energies of two mutually perpendicular polarization components (s and p components). As a result, we observed a high degree of polarization that fluctuated from shot to shot. The dominant polarization component switched from s to p when pumping was made stronger. The measurement results are discussed from the point of view of the general polarization theory and supported by a numerical simulation based on Maxwell-Bloch equations.