Three paths have been developed within the ELI research area for transforming optical laser pulses into powerful EUV to X-ray radiation:
- High-order harmonic generation
- Incoherent plasma X-ray sources
- Betatron/Compton radiation
For each of these research areas, dedicated beamlines provide a unique combination of EUV to X-ray sources to the user community. The application has a well-defined balance between fundamental science and applications in different fields of science and technology. Emphasis is placed on providing an international user facility. Therefore, most of the areas have been conceived so that potential users from different fields will be attracted by the advanced laser parameters concerning pulse widths, repetition rates, broad wavelength ranges and intensities. Another important feature will be the combination of perfectly synchronized sources of short pulse coherent optical radiation, UV radiation, XUV radiation and X-ray radiation (both coherent and incoherent). The available wavelength range of short pulses will be extended in the future to the gamma range well above 100 keV.