Abstract

Plasma was created by irradiating transparent solid targets with a high-power sub-picosecond laser pulse. The KrF laser beam,¹ with λ = 248 nm, was focused onto flat targets, and intensities as high as ≃ 10¹⁹ W/cm² were produced at the target surface. The laser pulse duration was ≃ 300 fs. Transparent solid targets of LiF, MgF₂, CaF₂, and BaF₂ were used. Earlier, an electron density of the order of 10²³ cm^-3 in these laser-produced plasmas was evaluated by measuring the density enhancement of the dielectronic satellite spectra emitted by lithiumlike Mg and Si ions.²

© 1995 Optical Society of America