Generation of extreme ultraviolet radiation with a Bessel-Gaussian beam

The generation of few high-order harmonics in the extreme ultraviolet is enhanced by focusing the fundamental femtosecond laser beam with a combination of lens and axicon in an infinite gas cell. We show that this combination leads to an improvement in the phase-matched generation of harmonics in the cutoff region, with a higher photon flux and a better spatial beam profile. A high atom density through the use of a high gas pressure can be used and the absorption limit of the harmonic generation is obtained for an interaction length of a few millimeters.