http://www.researchonline.mq.edu.au/vital/access/services/Feed ${session.getAttribute("locale")} 5 http://www.researchonline.mq.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/mq:8293 This paper reports on a novel approach for producing high energy femtosecond pulses without external amplification. The so-called chirped-pulse oscillator ~CPO! concept is based on an extended-cavity oscillator, operating at small net positive intracavity group delay dispersion ~GDD!, over a broad spectral range by the use of chirped multilayer mirrors. The resultant chirped picosecond pulses are compressed by a dispersive delay line external to the laser cavity. Utilizing this technique, sub-30 fs pulses with an energy exceeding 200 nJ at a repetition rate of 11 MHz were produced. The demonstrated peak power in excess of 5MWis the highest ever achieved from a cw-pumped laser and is expected to be scaleable to tens of megawatts by increasing the pump power and0or decreasing the repetition rate. The demonstrated source allows micromachining of any materials under relaxed focusing conditions. 2010-05-24T10:12:15.330Z ]]> http://www.researchonline.mq.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/mq:8288 We give on overview of recent advances in collisionally pumped optical field-ionization soft X-ray lasers developed at LOA. Saturated amplification has been achieved on the 5d-5p transition in Xe⁸⁺ at 41.8 nm, and on the 4d-4p transition in Kr⁸⁺ at 32.8 nm. We demonstrate a significant increase of the energy output from the Xe⁸⁺ laser driven within two types of wave-guide. Finally, we present results of a pioneering work aimed to set up and characterize the first true soft X-ray laser chain. 2010-05-24T01:30:25.025Z ]]>