Short wavelength lasers have many potential scientific and engineering applications. The goal of this research is to develop and improve a practical XUV Xe laser, and to use it for XUV holographic imaging. Measurements on gain lifetime values of this laser have been performed. The laser has been found to have gain lifetime around 250 psec to 350 psec under our experimental conditions, and thus requires a sub-nanosecond pump laser. The effects of using different target materials under identical experimental conditions have been studied. We found that a gold coated target provides an 80% increase in output energy over a plain stainless steel target, and thus becomes an attractive way of improving the Xe laser energy. In order to use Xe laser as a source for XUV holographic imaging, its coherence properties need to be studied. Some of these issues are addressed in this thesis. A possible way of improving Xe laser coherence and mode quality is also discussed at the end of this thesis.