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Laser-plasma gas-puff target sources suitable for EUV and SXR microscopy have been presented. Microscopy with Fresnel zone plates, due to their high dispersion, requires monochromatic radiation, which to a good approximation is the quasi-monochromatic emission from an argon based EUV source at 13.84 nm. This source was used for microscopy experiments and provided a spatial resolution of about 50 nm. Similarly a nitrogen based source can be used for SXR microscopy with the same type of optic. An argon based SXR source offers much higher photon flux through the broadband emission and, although not suitable for zone plate objectives, were employed in SXR microscopes with reflective, dispersion-free optics such as Wolter type I objectives.

In this chapter the first demonstration of a desk-top EUV transmission microscopy at 13.8 nm, with a spatial (half-pitch) resolution as good as 50 nm in a very compact setup, is presented.

A new laser-plasma EUV source dedicated for modification of polymer surfaces developed during the COST Action MP0601 Short Wavelength Laboratory Sources has been presented. The source is based on the double-stream gas-puff target approach and equipped with an axisymmetrical grazing incidence ellipsoidal mirror for EUV beam focusing. The source was designed and built under the EUREKA project E!3892 ModPolEUV in close cooperation with industrial partners (EKSPLA, Reflex, PREVAC). The source has been used successfully in investigations on modification of surfaces from various polymers and preliminary studies on the cultivation of biological cells on EUV modified polymer surfaces. The source should be useful in the research on biocompatibility control of polymer materials.