Abstract

Experiments in recent years have shown that using an intense laser beam of intensities of more than 10¹³ W/cm² (up to 10¹⁶ W/cm²) multiply charged ions of rare gas atoms were created with relative ease. The wavelengths of the lasers ranged from the infrared^1,2 through the near i.r.³ and visible³ to the u.v.⁴. Most of the data indicated that a step-wise multiphoton process was responsible for the multiple charge creation.

© 1986 Optical Society of America