This work reports on investigations of parameters of ion streams emitted from a plasma produced with a picosecond laser at the power densities ≥1016 W/cm2. Not many papers dealing with such investigations have been published up to now, in spite of the fact that the application of precise corpuscular diagnostics enables better learning of the physical properties of such a plasma. As a result of the investigations carried out, the average and maximum energies of Cu ions were 30 keV and 150 keV, respectively. The maximum charge of Cu ions was 13+. The dependencies of parameters of ions emitted from the plasma on the laser-pulse energy as well as on the location of the focus of the laser beam with respect to the target's surface were also found out. The results obtained from the ion measurements in relation to the results of measurements of X ray are discussed.

The interaction of a 1 ps laser pulse of moderate contrast ratio (~104) with a Cu target is investigated at laser intensities I of up to 3×1016 W cm-2 with the use of corpuscular, x-ray and optical diagnostics. Intensity-dependent characteristics of ion and x-ray emission as well as reflectivity, electron temperature and average charge state of plasma produced by the laser pulse are presented and discussed. It is found that (a) the specular reflectivity dependence on intensity for a moderate-contrast ultrashort (⩽1 ps) pulse is qualitatively and quantitatively different from that for a high-contrast ultrashort pulse; (b) the scaling laws for parameters of thermal ions are essentially different from those for fast ions; (c) the soft x-ray yield scales as I α with α≈2-2.5 in the intensity range 1014-3×1016 W cm-2; and (d) electron temperature scales as I 0.44 at 1015<I<3×1016 W cm-2.

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Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to present the newly-opened High Power Laser Laboratory (HPLL) at the Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion (IPPLM). This article describes the laser, the main laboratory accessories and the diagnostic instruments. We also present preliminary results of the fi rst experiment on ion and X-ray generation from laser-produced plasma that has been already performed at the HPLL.

In this article, we present the formation of an elongated plasma column by combining a laser plasma with an external magnetic field. The laser plasma is produced by irradiating solid targets with a focused Nd-glass laser. The targets were placed on the axis of the two, single-turn magnetic coils, which provided a magnetic field up to 500 kg in the target region. The expanding laser plasma is confined by the magnetic field and an elongated and uniform plasma column is formed on the axis of the coils. The plasma column emits strong, soft X-ray radiation. The pinhole photographs show that the plasma column is at least 5 mm long. To study the interaction of the expanding laser plasma with a magnetic field, the laser probing diagnostic was used.