Rami Arieli: "The
Laser Adventure" Section 6.5.2 page 2
Applications of x-Ray Lasers
Lasers operating in the x-Rays spectrum range can be used as a sophisticated
weapon system. Thus, most of the research on x-Ray laser is
done in the US national laboratories.
One of the most promising energy sources for
exciting an x-Ray laser is nuclear energy(!).
One of the programs in the Strategic
Defense Initiative (SDI) was to use a nuclear explosion
to pump a large number of x-Ray lasers. An artist sketch of such system
is described in figure 6.38.
Figure 6.38: An artist sketch of a nuclear blast
to pump x-Ray lasers in space.