This paper provides an up-to-date review of the problems related to the generation, detection and mitigation of strong electromagnetic pulses created in the interaction of high-power, high-energy laser pulses with different types of solid targets. It includes new experimental data obtained independently at several international laboratories. The mechanisms of electromagnetic field generation are analyzed and considered as a function of the intensity and the spectral range of emissions they produce. The major emphasis is put on the GHz frequency domain, which is the most damaging for electronics and may have important applications. The physics of electromagnetic emissions in other spectral domains, in particular THz and MHz, is also discussed. The theoretical models and numerical simulations are compared with the results of experimental measurements, with special attention to the methodology of measurements and complementary diagnostics. Understanding the underlying physical processes is the basis for developing techniques to mitigate the electromagnetic threat and to harness electromagnetic emissions, which may have promising applications.

Interaction of a laser beam with a target may generate a high velocity expanding plasma plume, solid debris, and liquid nano- and microparticles. They can be produced from plasma recombination, vapor condensation or by a direct expulsion of the heated liquid phase. Two distinct sizes of particles are observed depending on the temperature achieved in the plasma plume: Micrometer-size fragments for temperatures lower than the critical temperature, and nanometer-size particles for higher temperatures. The paper presents experimental observations of fragments and nanoparticles in plasma plumes created from gold targets. These results are compared with theoretical models of vapor condensation and microparticle formation.

To increase the fluence and the maximum energy of laser driven ion beams in view of potential applications such as isochoric heating of dense material or isotope production, it has been proposed to attach a helical coil normally to the rear side of the irradiated target. By driving the target discharge current pulse through the coil, this scheme allows to focus, post-accelerate and select in energy a part of the ion beam. The previously published results are extended to higher laser pulse energies and longer coils. This leads to an increased number of guided protons and the generation of several proton bunches. Large scale particle-in-cell simulations with realistic boundary conditions reproduce well the experimental results. A detailed analysis of the numerical simulations and an analytical model demonstrate the crucial role of the discharge current pulse dispersion in the proton bunch trapping and focusing.