High repetition rate operation of saturated tabletop soft x-ray lasers in transitions of neon-like ions near 30 nm.

We report average powers exceeding 1 microwatt in laser transitions of Ne-like ions at wavelengths near 30 nm. Gain-saturated operation was obtained at a repetition rate of 5 Hz exciting solid targets with pump pulses of ~1 J energy and 8 ps duration impinging at grazing incidence of 20 degrees. Gain-length products of about 20 were obtained in the 30.4 nm and 32.6 nm transitions of Ne-like V and Ne-like Ti respectively. Strong lasing was also observed in Ne-like Cr at 28.6 nm and in the 30.1 nm line of Ne-like Ti.