FAST-ION EMISSION FROM CO2-LASER PULSE-PRODUCED PLASMA.

It has been noted that fast ions are emitted, during the interaction of an intense laser pulse with solid targets. These ions can carry away a substantial part of the energy supplied into plasma, exerting thereby an unfavorable influence upon the transformation of the radiation energy into the thermal energy of plasma. Studies on energy and angular distributions of ions emitted from plasma make it possible to determine the energy balance in the plasma, this energy balance being necessary for estimating the effectiveness of heating the plasma by intense laser radiation. Experiments were conducted to explore some characteristics of multi-charge plasma-ions, such as energy distributions of ions, electron temperature of plasma, number of ions in function of their charge, as well as energy carried away by ions.