Laser plasma studies using a high-power 249-nm KrF laser

We report on experiments where a high-power single-beam KrF laser (Sprite) has been used to generate laser-produced plasmas. The 249-nm laser beam is focused onto target at energies up to 120 J in 50 nsec using a plano-convex fused silica lens (f/10) giving a peak irradiance of 3×1013 W/cm2 in a spot 200 µm in diameter. Experiments to date have concentrated on measuring the properties of x-ray emission from various target materials including C, Al, Cl, Ta, W, Au, and Bi.